The Missability Radio Show is a positive, celebratory and insightful collection of perspectives on equipment, design, disability and experience. Each of the 3 shows is 35 - 40 minutes long and includes excerpts of conversations, formal interviews and specially composed music. The Missability Radio Show aims to change the way people think about disability, and to generate images and occasions that cast disability in an empowered, resourceful and creative light.
Structured in a style reminiscent of 1950s Woman's Hour, the podcasts are
loosely themed around the design of equipment such as walking frames, walking
sticks, crutches, guide-dog harnesses and hearing aids. It also explores DIY approaches
to customising and personalising equipment, and includes coverage of The
Knitted Walking Stick Cosy Competition that was devised as part of the project.
The project development was sponsored by Dialability, an Oxfordshire-based Independent Living Centre. Volunteering at the centre provided great insight into the industries that create living aids and the professionals who distribute them.
The Missability Radio Show was made possible through interactions between Felicity Ford and the following folks; W.I.L.L. (Women Independently Living in Leitrim), TalkSign Society, Oxford Brookes University, Stitchlinks, Dialability, Shopmobility, Oxford Contemporary Music, The Oxford Bluestockings, I Knit London, Rachael Matthews, Isolde Carmody, Alicja Burzynska, Louise Ballinger, Robin Brookes, customers of Shopmobility, Jo Ross, Tim Hand and Mark Stanley.
The project addresses the social, not the medical, aspects of disability. Many features of the show also address identity, gender politics, fashion, creativity, craft and the equipment industry. The Missability Radio Show openly aspires to change social attitudes; in this respect it is considered to be relevant to social design.





























































