Understanding Lives of People with Disabilities


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Creator/Artist: Sajal Nagwanshi

Category: Interaction Design

Document: P1 Project

Batch: 2012-2014

Source: India,   IDC IIT Bombay

Period:  2009-2018

Medium: Report pdf

Supervisor: MBA foundation


Detailed Description

The objective of the internship was to gain insight into the lives of people with disabilities, specifically those with Cerebral Palsy (CP). It was an antecedent to my project, which is to design an assistive tool for people with CP. MBA Foundation is an NGO that works for people with various disabilities. It has four centres in Mumbai. Throughout my internship, I visited all four centres and gained insight by meeting caretakers, special educators, social workers, physiotherapists, and students themselves. Aside from the user study, I also participated in and volunteered for the NGO's various activities. Six people were observed at the four centres that had CP at varying levels throughout the duration of the study. The next step was to assist the students with their daycare activities in collaboration with the special educators. While observing them doing activities like painting, applying glue to paper bags, counting and sealing aggarbatti, etc., the challenges that they faced were evident. Some could do their work without assistance, while others were heavily dependent on the carers. The centre also had a physiotherapist who regularly gave therapy to the students. The insights gained from his experience about each of the students with CP were also worthwhile. It helped in understanding the history of each person and how treatment had helped in performing the activities. While no cure is known for any of the subtypes of CP, many of the patient's capabilities can be improved using a variety of methods. The other activities that were part of the internship were marketing the goods that were made by students of the NGO. The "Empower" Foundation for the Disabled, an umbrella company under the MBA Foundation, is a non-profit Section 25 company. It markets the products made by them, spreads awareness, provides them with job opportunities, and explores other avenues to facilitate their joining the mainstream. The activities included holding exhibitions of the products, meeting CSR managers of companies, making brochures and presentations, and meeting marketing managers of organisations for hosting events.