DEI + CARExDESIGN
Come to the ADA Open House! May 20th+21st, 12-4pm at 313 West 36th Street (NYC's Garment District). RSVP here.
Visit our exhibition ‘The Shape of Care’ at Common Things in the East Village. May 16-23, 12-6pm. 76 East 7th Avenue.
Shop the DEI collection at NEW INC’s DEMO Festival June 4-22. NEW INC is the NEW MUSEUM’s cultural incubator.
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TOUR the workshop, MEET the fabricators, and SHOP our catalogue of inclusive design interventions that reflect creativity, agency, and the richness of lived experience.
The Adaptive Design Association reimagines everyday tools with care and creativity—crafting personalized furniture, utensils, and equipment for people with different abilities. Each piece is made in-house and offered free of charge.
Interested to volunteer or donate? info@adaptivedesign.org@adaptivedesigninc
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Yes—“Design is for EVERYONE!” (as the NYCxDESIGN website states).
Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at the Adaptive Design Association (ADA), a nonprofit based in New York City’s Garment District that provides custom designs for people with different abilities through a collaborative process of creating assistive aids. Every item is fabricated in-house and offered free of charge. ADA is a space where new narratives of care take shape—literally.
Operating as a nonprofit since 2001, ADA has created over 10,000 custom adaptations—ranging from seating and standing devices, utensils, mobility aids, and tactile communication tools for people who are blind or have low vision, to a battery-powered Wild Thing kids’ car designed to hold an oxygen tank. Every item is built in collaboration with clients, caregivers, educators, and therapists to meet needs often unmet by mass-produced solutions—or as immediate, creative responses when devices are unavailable, delayed, or denied by insurance. For children with developmental delays or disabilities, timely intervention dramatically shapes outcomes in mobility, communication, cognition, and social-emotional growth. ADA serves all ages and disabilities with 70% of requests for children under 10 years old, with the highest reported disabilities as Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Genetic Disorders, and Visual Impairments.
Through their core programs—Adapt for Access, Made to Learn, and the Tactile Communication Program—ADA integrates universal design principles into education and training programs that equip others to co-create assistive devices. Using accessible materials like cardboard and open-source 3D printing, ADA’s design practice empowers individuals and communities anywhere to reimagine what care and accessibility can look like in response to local healthcare systems.
When thinking about adaptive designs, the questions that are often asked are: Why, how, and for whom did this design come to be? And what values are embedded in the systems from which it emerged?
When we design alongside lived experience, assistive tools naturally evolve beyond the one-size-fits-most approach. Designing becomes a holistic practice—one that expresses care not only in function, but in process, intention, and form.
We look forward to welcoming you to ADA, where we’re committed to designing for difference, in shaping a world that includes everyone.
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• This event is a part of NYCxDESIGN • a dynamic platform for diverse voices in design that connects and amplifies the broad coalition of design that fuels New York City and enriches the world • an annual citywide celebration that highlights hundreds of events, from exhibits and trade shows to talks and tours.
• Visit our satellite event at Common Things (76 East 7th Street) in the East Village to see the debut of our MAGNADAPTxSTUDIOPHORIA collaboration. “We’re reframing assistive tools as lifestyle objects through an aesthetic language of form and function that transforms our values and the narratives we share about care, creativity and belonging.” says Elaine Young, ADA Board Member and Founder of STUDIOPHORIA.
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• For the most recent exhibition information, check out our posts and stories May 13th @adapativedesigninc@studiophoria
Image descriptions: (1) Event info (2) work-in-progress ~ ADA's Magnadapt hand cuff system enables the user to adapt any utensil or tool (shown here is a mix of utensils, some from Common Things , (3) classic palmar cuff - Magnadapt is an evolution of this, (4) the ‘Chair’ chapter is about ADA, (5) adapted hair styling station with blow dryer and comb handle, (6) adapted toothbrush for a user with weak finger grip strength, (7) buttons from STUDIOPHORIA’s DEI collection, (8) DEI graphic for apparel (currently in production for Fall 2025).
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• Please note that we're not able accommodate walk-in private consultations during the Open House, but we encourage you to come visit :) Please make a consultation request by sending an email to elaine@adaptivedesign.org with < NYCxDESIGN Consultation Request: __Date+Time__ > in the subject line. Thank you.
• Interested to hear more about adaptive design? ADA is featured in Sara Hendren's 'Chair' chapter, in < What Can a Body Do? How We Meet the Built World.>
• DEI graphic is based on the article ‘These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration’ - New York Times, March 7th 2025
