«How a traumatic incident changed our life, our career and our family»

The lives of Lindsay and James Sulzer changed in an instant when a falling tree branch left their four-year-old daughter with severe and lasting motor, cognitive and speech impairments. Launching the SCDH's «Design and Health? Let's Talk About It!» online lecture and discussion series, this talk explores the importance of incorporating lived experience into research, design and public policy.

Lindsay and James Sulzer: «It is often said that ‘life can change in the blink of an eye’. Our lives changed when a falling tree branch left our four-year-old daughter with lasting severe motor, cognitive and speech impairments. The accident and its aftermath were enormously challenging. However, as researchers in rehabilitation engineering and regenerative medicine, it exposed gaps in the medical research sector and government policies that affected us. 

It became clear that many supports intended to assist our daughter and our family in daily life were not designed with the users in mind. The education and training we received on the state-of-the-art approaches to helping individuals recover from neurological injuries felt completely inadequate in the face of the practical and systematic hurdles we encountered. Unfortunately, the current direction and policies of the US government are only exacerbating our issues. 

This talk will focus on the importance of incorporating lived experience into research, design and government policies through the lens of our family.»