DIY as a Participatory Assistive Technology Practice

The paper examines the role of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) as a participatory Assistive Technology (AT) practice in improving the quality of life of families raising children with cerebral palsy (CP). It argues that standardized, institutional assistive device systems often fail to respond with sufficient flexibility to the heterogeneous and evolving needs associated with CP. The theoretical framework draws on Critical Disability Theory, open design, and participatory design, which conceptualize disability as a social construct and design as an active norm-shaping agent. The case study focuses on the Adaptive Design Association (ADA) and its institutionalized DIY-AT model, highlighting how community-based knowledge sharing and participatory design strengthen family autonomy, perceived competence, and psychosocial well-being while reducing stigmatization. The paper concludes that DIY-AT is not an alternative to, but a complementary extension of institutional assistive technology systems.