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Defining Disability in an Age of Enhancement

Defining Disability in an Age of Enhancement. James J. Hughes Ph.D. Public Policy Studies Trinity College james.hughes@trincoll.edu Union College – May 22, 2010. What is Ability/Disability? .

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Defining Disability in an Age of Enhancement

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  1. Defining Disability in an Age of Enhancement James J. Hughes Ph.D. Public Policy Studies Trinity College james.hughes@trincoll.edu Union College – May 22, 2010

  2. What is Ability/Disability? • Medical Model of Disability: there is an objective standard of disease/disability, health/ability (and enhancement) • Social Model of Disability: disability is created by how society treats varying levels of health and ability

  3. Human Enhancement • Therapy/Enhancement • Enablement • Some therapies already enhance • Baseline is shifting • Social construction of normal, healthy, able

  4. Therapeutic HETs • Under therapeutic model the sick and disabled will be first to receive HETs

  5. Physical Ability • Prosthetics & Oscar Pistorius • Doping & gene doping • Tissue engineering & stem cells • Declining senior disability and changing expectations of the elderly

  6. Skeleto-Muscular Therapies • Growth factor and follistatin genes inserted into muscle tissue increased muscle mass without exercise, and more with exercise. • A possible therapy for muscle wasting conditions such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

  7. Health & Longevity • Therapies that slow aging will be therapies for aging-related diseases. • Obesity • Diabetes • Hypertension • Heart disease • Depression • Immune weakness • Cancer 74 yr-old Tsumu Tosuka

  8. Cochlear & Auditory Implants • Bluetoothed implants will permit implants to work with phones and MP3 players

  9. Artificial Eyes • Today dots of light • Tomorrow infrared and ultraviolet

  10. Artificial Limbs • Artificial limbs could already be stronger than organic ones bebionic fully articulating myo-electric prosthetic hand from RSLSteeper

  11. Cognitive Ability • Therapies for developmental delay, brain damage and dementia • ADHD and stimulants • Flynn Effect

  12. Mental Health & Mood • Diagnosis creep or increasing pathology • SSRIs • Increasing openness but declining tolerance of untreated mental illness

  13. Humans 1.0 Are All Disabled • In the future we will all be “disabled” in relation to the enhanced standard • Question will be how widespread access is to HETs

  14. Victory of the Social Model? • HETs will gradually erode a medical model of disability • Ability will be defined by our access to technological enablement • Convergence of medicalization and social model • Unenhanced subject to: • Prejudice & stigma • Structural barriers

  15. Literacy • Not required a hundred years ago • Expected today • Employment barriers • Stigma • Medicalization

  16. Infertility • Are the infertile disabled or sick? • Infertility always a problem • Now that there are fertility treatments they have organized for access

  17. Capabilities Approach • Sen-Nussbaum • No naturalistic fallacy or status quo bias • More capabilities are better • Capabilities determined by social and tech enablement

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