Hitting the Books: This $80 prosthetic has helped millions walk again

If you happen to fall outside that specified range, navigating the internet, your community, even your own home, can become exponentially more difficult. But it doesn't have to be this way, argues artist, writer and design researcher Sara Hendren. In her new book, What Can a Body Do, Hendren examines the challenges that people with disabilities face on a daily basis in a world that often doesn't take their needs into account and shows that more inclusive design -- from cybernetic prosthetic arms and more accessible city streets to tactile doorbells for the deaf -- isn't just possible, it's already practical. In the excerpt below, Hendren looks at the Jaipur Foot, an unpowered, low-cost prosthetic that has helped nearly two million lower leg amputees in India and other countries regain their ability to walk. From WHAT CAN A BODY DO: How We Meet the Built World by Sara Hendren published on August 18, 2020 by Riverhead, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.