Ideas change everything

When we design for disability, we all benefit

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Elise Roy |

TEDxMidAtlantic

• September 2015

"I believe that losing my hearing was one of the greatest gifts I've ever received," says Elise Roy. As a disability rights lawyer and design thinker, she knows that being Deaf gives her a unique way of experiencing and reframing the world -- a perspective that could solve some of our largest problems. As she says: "When we design for disability first, you often stumble upon solutions that are better than those when we design for the norm."

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"I believe that losing my hearing was one of the greatest gifts I've ever received," says Elise Roy. As a disability rights lawyer and design thinker, she knows that being Deaf gives her a unique way of experiencing and reframing the world -- a perspective that could solve some of our largest problems. As she says: "When we design for disability first, you often stumble upon solutions that are better than those when we design for the norm."

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxMidAtlantic, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

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About the speaker

Lawyer, artist, human rights advocate

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Elise Roy thinks that designers have the capacity and responsibility to address and resolve human problems on micro and macro scales and contribute to social well-being.

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxMidAtlantic, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.