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Related Resources
Nothing About Us Without Us: Developing
Innovative Technologies for, by and with
Disabled Persons. David Werner. 1998. Palo Alto,
CA: HealthWrights.
Nothing About Us Without Us explores the development
of low-cost innovative aids and equipment that can
be made at home or in a small community workshop.
This book differs from other technology manuals of
its kind. It is not a “cookbook” with precise instructions
for making pre-designed devices. Rather, it is
about thinking through challenges and possibilities.
The emphasis is not so much on the end-product—
or things—but on the people involved and the collective
process of search and discovery. The goal of
this book is to spark the reader’s imagination—and
to stimulate a spirit of adventure.
The book also considers how to achieve fuller integration
of disabled people into society, and it
looks at ways to help communities look at disabled
persons’ strengths, not their weaknesses. Examples of
Child-to-Child activities show how the disabled and
non-disabled child can work, play, and learn together,
and how they enrich one another’s lives.
The book has been written as a companion to
David Werner’s earlier book, Disabled Village Children,
now being used in Community-Based Rehabilitation
programmes worldwide. It is based on years of collaborative
work by David Werner and the disabled
villagers who created and run PROJIMO, an innovative
rehabilitation programme in rural Mexico. It also
draws on experiences from many other parts of the
world. Chapters in the book address such issues as:
disabled persons as leaders in the problem-solving
process; the purpose of seating—freedom and development,
not confinement; creative solutions to personal
and situational needs; freedom on wheels—
designing mobility aids to meet individual needs; innovative
methods and approaches—people helping
and learning from each other as equals; and Childto-Child
activities that include and empower disabled
children.
Over 800 line drawings and 600 photos help make
the information clear for those with little formal education.
The book is also available in Spanish.
The book costs US$ 15 (plus US$ 5 postage) and
can be ordered from HealthWrights, P.O. Box 1344,
Palo Alto, CA 94302, USA. Visa and MasterCard orders
can be faxed to (650) 325-1080 or e-mailed to
HealthWrights@igc.org
Disabled Village Children. David Werner. 1987.
Palo Alto, CA: Hesperian Foundation.
This book includes materials concerning how to
work with disabled children and their families, and it
identifies ways of recognizing, helping with and preventing
common disabilities. Practical suggestions
are offered concerning how to work with the community
in promoting the process of social integration
and the rights of disabled persons. One section
of the book also deals with practical suggestions
concerning the preparation of rehabilitation aids
with materials available in the rural environment. As
Werner states in the introduction, the book was not
written by experts and then ‘field tested’ with community
workers, but evolved from community work-
UNICEF/9508/Roger Lemoyne
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