Deficit-Oriented Research

A research approach that frames its subjects primarily in terms of what they lack, cannot do, or need to have fixed, rather than recognizing their strengths, agency, and lived expertise. In disability and accessibility research, deficit-oriented approaches treat disabled bodies and experiences as problems requiring medical or technological solutions, ignoring systemic and social barriers. This contrasts with asset-based or strengths-based approaches that recognize disabled people's knowledge, creativity, and self-determination as central to research and design.