"A manifesto exploding what we think we know about disability, and arguing that disabled people are the real experts when it comes to technology and disability."
"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."
~ From W.W. Norton Press
Ashley Shew is an associate professor of Science, Technology, and Society at Virginia Tech. Her current research sits at the intersection of technology studies, biotech ethics, and disability studies. She was recipient of an NSF CAREER Award for work on disability narrative about technology (#1750260, Disability, Experience, and Technological Imagination, 2018-2023), and is currently a principal investigator of an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-funded Higher Learning project that supports the creation of a regional Disability Community Technology (DisCoTec) Center providing guidance for developing disabled-led technology and disability-forward technological futures through humanities-based scholarship and disability justice education, arts, and outreach (Just Dis Tech Project, 2023-2025). Shew’s recent book Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement (2023) and forthcoming open textbook, co-edited with Hanna Herdegen, Technology and Disability, both focus on the stories disabled people tell about technologies that people do not always expect.
Image c/o Virginia Tech faculty profile page
Bio c/o techanddisability.com