Empathy Simulation

A design technique where non-disabled people temporarily simulate a disability experience — such as wearing a blindfold, using a wheelchair, or restricting hand movement — to develop empathy and understanding for people with disabilities. While widely used in design education and awareness training, empathy simulations have been substantially criticized in disability studies for positioning disabled bodies as "non-designing bodies," leaving out the voices and insights of actual disabled people, and encouraging designers to interpret disability through their own lens rather than engaging authentically with the disability community. Researchers like Bennett and Rosner advocate shifting from "being like" to "being with" — replacing simulations with direct collaboration where disabled people lead the experience.