Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement

When bioethicist and professor Ashley Shew became a self-described hard-of-hearing chemo-brained amputee with Crohns disease and tinnitus, there was no returning to normal. Suddenly well-meaning people called her an inspiration while grocery shopping, or viewed her as a needy recipient of technological wizardry. Most disabled people dont want what the abled assume they wantnor are they generally asked. Why do abled people frame disability as an individual problem that calls for technological solutions, rather than a social one?

In a warm, feisty, opinionated voice and vibrant prose, Shew shows how we can create better narratives and more accessible futures by drawing from the insights of the cross-disability community. For the future is surely disabledwhether through changing climate, new diseases, or even through space travel. Its time we looked closely at how we all think about disability technologies and learn to envision disabilities not as liabilities, but as skill sets enabling all of us to navigate a challenging world.