Against Technoableism Rethinking Who Needs Improvement

Ashley Shew, Maria Pendolino

eAudio - 2023

When 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.In 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 disa...bility; 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... more