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#ConNZealand Technology for Disability in the Real World and in Speculative Fiction #DisabilityTechInSF panel is just started
With Dr. Hirotaka Osawa, Dr Farah Mendlesohn, Elsa Sjunneson and Lars Backstrom (Mod)
With Dr. Hirotaka Osawa, Dr Farah Mendlesohn, Elsa Sjunneson and Lars Backstrom (Mod)
#ConNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
Opening question: is disability mainly a social construct when actual completely able bodied people are rare?
Farah Mendlesohn argues it isn't: her hearing loss meant she lost music and no amount of social adjustment will get it back
Opening question: is disability mainly a social construct when actual completely able bodied people are rare?
Farah Mendlesohn argues it isn't: her hearing loss meant she lost music and no amount of social adjustment will get it back
#ConNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
Elsa Sjunneson: what we describe as disabled is what goes against the 'norm' but I was born with this disabled body, it is the norm for me.
Elsa Sjunneson: what we describe as disabled is what goes against the 'norm' but I was born with this disabled body, it is the norm for me.
#ConNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
Mendlesohn: tendency to think of disability as 'one size fits all': more important to think of needs rather than disabilities.
Sjunneson: yes, we have similar disabilities but different ways on how we handle them
Mendlesohn: tendency to think of disability as 'one size fits all': more important to think of needs rather than disabilities.
Sjunneson: yes, we have similar disabilities but different ways on how we handle them
#ConNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
Audience question: how often do disabled engineers work on disability aids?
Sjunneson: in my experience it has all been hearing people wearing on deaf aids
Audience question: how often do disabled engineers work on disability aids?
Sjunneson: in my experience it has all been hearing people wearing on deaf aids
#ConNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
Hirotaka Osawa: in my team we do have disabled people and we have them working on the research too
Hirotaka Osawa: in my team we do have disabled people and we have them working on the research too
#ConNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
Sjunneson: self climbing wheel chairs are the worst, but even normal wheel chairs are uncomfortable to sit in, don't have enough storage space and who wants tank threads.
Sjunneson: self climbing wheel chairs are the worst, but even normal wheel chairs are uncomfortable to sit in, don't have enough storage space and who wants tank threads.
#ConNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
Mendlesohn: active involvement of disabled people in all aspects of design is so necessary to make sure social spaces like schools are accessible.
Mendlesohn: active involvement of disabled people in all aspects of design is so necessary to make sure social spaces like schools are accessible.
#ConNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
Audience question: whether SFF as a genre at present challenges the ableist norm sufficiently?
Mendlesohn: so much sf has a planet either inhabitable or not, but not so much in the middle when disability depends often on where you are
Audience question: whether SFF as a genre at present challenges the ableist norm sufficiently?
Mendlesohn: so much sf has a planet either inhabitable or not, but not so much in the middle when disability depends often on where you are
#ConNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
Sjunneson: we can only get good representation if we get more disabled writers in sf
Sjunneson: we can only get good representation if we get more disabled writers in sf
#ConNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
Mendlesohn: the authors I've found who actually have done chronic illness in a way that feels real are all feminist writers (Hopkinson, Nisi Shawl, Fran Wilde)
Mendlesohn: the authors I've found who actually have done chronic illness in a way that feels real are all feminist writers (Hopkinson, Nisi Shawl, Fran Wilde)
#ConNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
Sjunneson: for sf that talks about curing disabilities like blindness the question I ask is how do you expect people to adapt to this new way of seeing for them?
Sjunneson: for sf that talks about curing disabilities like blindness the question I ask is how do you expect people to adapt to this new way of seeing for them?
#ConNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
both Sjunneson and Mendlesohn talk about assistive technology needing to make life easier for them, rather than something that makes them more 'normal'
both Sjunneson and Mendlesohn talk about assistive technology needing to make life easier for them, rather than something that makes them more 'normal'
#CoNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
Mendlesohn: all those fantasy novels with magical creatures but none of them used as service animals
Also disability in fantasy is often the result of curses or the mark of a villain
Mendlesohn: all those fantasy novels with magical creatures but none of them used as service animals
Also disability in fantasy is often the result of curses or the mark of a villain
#CoNZealand #DisabilityTechInSF
Sjunneson: want editors to buy our works and readers to read disabled writers
Sjunneson: want editors to buy our works and readers to read disabled writers
