Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement

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. 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 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.

"Necessary and delightful. Ashley Shew teaches us an important framework for understanding the intersection of technology and ableism with clear prose and incredible charm, as her wry sense of humor jumps off the page." — Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, author of The Disordered Cosmos

"Against Technoableism reveals design justice not only for those with disabilities but for everyone who labors and lives with technology. It's an outstanding book." — Stephen Kuusisto, author of Have Dog, Will Travel

"Authoritative, witty, thoughtful, and unafraid to throw a punch, Ashley Shew pushes us headlong toward a much-needed world in which disabled people are seen as experts in their lives, curators of their stories, and vibrant, essential, generative parts of our collective future." — Ed Yong, author of An Immense 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 Against Technoableism, Animal Constructions, and Technological Knowledge and Spaces for the Future (coedited). She lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.