A01=Ashley Shew
ableism
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amputation
amputee
assistive technology
Author_Ashley Shew
autism
automatic-update
bioethics
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=JBFM
Category=JFFG
Category=JPW
Category=PDR
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
disability
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eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_science
eq_society-politics
ethics
futurism
health
justice
Language_English
neurodivergence
neurodiversity
PA=Available
philosophy
Price_€10 to €20
PS=Active
science
science and society
softlaunch
technology
Product details
- ISBN 9781324076254
- Weight: 148g
- Dimensions: 137 x 211mm
- Publication Date: 06 Aug 2024
- Publisher: WW Norton & Co
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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When bioethicist and professor Ashley Shew became a self-described “hard-of-hearing chemobrained amputee with Crohn’s 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 don’t want what the abled assume they want—nor are they generally asked. Almost everyone will experience disability at some point in their lives, yet the abled persistently frame disability as an individual’s problem rather than a social one.
In a warm, feisty 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. To forge a more equitable world, Shew argues that we must eliminate “technoableism”—the harmful belief that technology is a “solution” for disability; that the disabled simply await being “fixed” by technological wizardry; that making society more accessible and equitable is somehow a lesser priority.
This badly needed introduction to disability expertise considers mobility devices, medical infrastructure, neurodivergence and the crucial relationship between disability and race. The future, Shew points out, is surely disabled—whether through changing climate, new diseases or even through space travel. It’s 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.
Ashley Shew is an associate professor of science, technology, and society at Virginia Tech, and specializes in disability studies and technology ethics. Her books include Animal Constructions and Technological Knowledge and Spaces for the Future (coedited). She lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.
