This study aims to discover the types of experiences that physically disabled adults have while making
pottery, the meanings of those experiences, and the characteristics of the experiences using the hermeneutic
phenomenological approach of Max van Manen. This study comprised five physically disabled adults who
had participated in pottery programs at rehabilitation centers for the disabled for a period of two ten years.
The subjects consented to provide data about their pottery experiences in interviews. In-depth interviews
were conducted with the participants to garner information about their vivid experiences. After analysis, the
collected data were categorized into six essential themes and sixteen subthemes. The essential themes were:
“Experience of Unlimited Permission that was Given to Me,” “Marvels of Immersion,” “Creating Something
out of Nothing, Joy of Creating,” “Manifestation of Satisfaction and Confidence that Leads to My Growth,”
“Dialectical Cycle between Challenge and Frustration, and Limitation and Transcendence,” and “Experience
of Great Care Leads back to Self-Care.” The results found that pottery creation through the medium of clay
provides positive meaning to the lives of adults with disabilities. The psychological difficulties of adults
with disabilities who are treated as “Others” because they are disabled could be transformed into an
experience of care through pottery creation.