Concept

Media Narrative in the Prosthetics Hype Case

Shew also critiques how prosthetics companies market their products with slogans about “freeing” people who are “bound to their wheelchairs.” This framing is misleading, since many wheelchair users are not paralyzed, and many find wheelchairs empowering rather than limiting. By casting wheelchairs as inherently tragic, these ads erase disabled people’s satisfaction with existing mobility tools and shift attention away from making environments more accessible for all.

0

1

Updated 2025-09-26

Tags

Disability Studies

Educational Psychology

Social Science

Empirical Science

Science

Psychology