This is such a great discussion, with so many interesting ideas being brought up. I think that a lot of the time, able-bodied authors don't think of including disabled characters because disability isn't on their personal radar. And when they do, the notion that 'everything will be prevented/curable in the future' is probably a major brake on their imagination. And then we get into the ugly issue of ablism and the undervaluing of disabled people, and therefore disabled characters.
But if you think about the perspective of someone in the year 1910, or even 1950, they'd probably have imagined that we, in the 21st century (we are living in a period they imagined in their science fiction) would have cured a lot more diseases than is actually the case. In practice, we've reduced infant mortality, increased lifespan, and developed better drugs to maintain quality of life, control chronic illnesses. In the wealthier parts of the world, that is.
But of course, that means that a) people are living with disabilities which would once have killed them at or soon after birth, b) people who live longer, live longer with age-related illnesses and disabilities, and c) people with some diseases are surviving and developing complications which result from the longstanding activity of those diseases. Not to mention that new problems are surfacing, and old ones getting more common, as direct and indirect results of our lifestyle, technology and our very adaptation: MRSA is a great example. We came up with antibiotics, we overused antibiotics, and resistant bacteria came knocking.
And since all of that is true, I don't see why it wouldn't continue to be, even if we assume preventions or cures for a lot of today's common conditions exist in, say, 2100. You, or someone else above, mentioned that nanotechnology is a slew of new allergies just waiting to happen, and I'd assume that new industries in the future (especially those that involved coming into contact with substances from other worlds) could lead to all sorts of previously unknown allergies, highly specific industrial accidents/injuries and illnesses (like how many nurses are allergic to latex today).
Also, unless we're imagining a social, technological and medical utopia, then there'll be lots of people who can't afford prevention or cure. And for people living with chronic illnesses and disabilities, there may be high-tech new assistive devices, but those devices (and the microcomputers and nanotechnology that make them work) will presumably have new bugs. If they're still running on Windows, then you BET they'll need a million patches in the course of the user's life.
God, I want to write future disability fic now... I realise I've reiterated a lot of stuff people already said, but I am really interested in this and appreciate the rare opportunity to ramble about it.
It's about a little girl whose parents are space archaeologists, and at one of their digs she comes into contact with something that causes a degenerative condition. Essentially, Tia's body progressively loses its functionality and she is given the opportunity to hook into a spaceship that will become both her life support system and her new body. 'Shellpersons' like Tia get matched up with an able-bodied person and go on various kinds of missions.
The thing I love about the book is how the disabled characters recognisably have their own culture (Shellpersons have their own type of music which works because of their sensory parameters, they tell 'Softperson' jokes, and there's references to how their experience impacts on their interactions with each other and with non-disabled people), and Tia fights to improves her rights as a worker and increase her autonomy re: her earnings, how she uses them, etc., instead of having to depend on an assigned able-bodied liaison. Essentially, the book makes the point that a scheme designed to benefit disabled people could also allow them to be exploited, but should not do so.
The ending might be a downfall, or might not. When Tia gets financial autonomy, she invests in various companies, including one which builds a prosthetic body she can transfer her consciousness into. This allows her to physically express her love for her Brawn pilot. So.... plus points for the fact that he falls for her as a disabled person, but minus points for the fact that the payoff at the end of the book is basically 'Yay, Tia has a facsimilie of her "normal" body back!'
I *think* that this was not the intention of the author, since we've already been shown how Shellperson consciousness, senses and experience are different from those of Softpersons rather than worse, and it's hard to imagine that Tia will give up zooming around the universe as a Brainship... but we all know about intent and how it's not actually the point. So it's very much a 'your mileage may vary' book for disabled readers...
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Date: 2010-06-17 05:26 pm (UTC)But if you think about the perspective of someone in the year 1910, or even 1950, they'd probably have imagined that we, in the 21st century (we are living in a period they imagined in their science fiction) would have cured a lot more diseases than is actually the case. In practice, we've reduced infant mortality, increased lifespan, and developed better drugs to maintain quality of life, control chronic illnesses. In the wealthier parts of the world, that is.
But of course, that means that a) people are living with disabilities which would once have killed them at or soon after birth, b) people who live longer, live longer with age-related illnesses and disabilities, and c) people with some diseases are surviving and developing complications which result from the longstanding activity of those diseases. Not to mention that new problems are surfacing, and old ones getting more common, as direct and indirect results of our lifestyle, technology and our very adaptation: MRSA is a great example. We came up with antibiotics, we overused antibiotics, and resistant bacteria came knocking.
And since all of that is true, I don't see why it wouldn't continue to be, even if we assume preventions or cures for a lot of today's common conditions exist in, say, 2100. You, or someone else above, mentioned that nanotechnology is a slew of new allergies just waiting to happen, and I'd assume that new industries in the future (especially those that involved coming into contact with substances from other worlds) could lead to all sorts of previously unknown allergies, highly specific industrial accidents/injuries and illnesses (like how many nurses are allergic to latex today).
Also, unless we're imagining a social, technological and medical utopia, then there'll be lots of people who can't afford prevention or cure. And for people living with chronic illnesses and disabilities, there may be high-tech new assistive devices, but those devices (and the microcomputers and nanotechnology that make them work) will presumably have new bugs. If they're still running on Windows, then you BET they'll need a million patches in the course of the user's life.
God, I want to write future disability fic now... I realise I've reiterated a lot of stuff people already said, but I am really interested in this and appreciate the rare opportunity to ramble about it.
Also, for disability in SF, look for the "Brain and Brawn Ship" series by Anne McCaffrey (and others): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ship_Who_Sang
I've only read "The Ship Who Searched".
(COMPLETE SPOILERS)
It's about a little girl whose parents are space archaeologists, and at one of their digs she comes into contact with something that causes a degenerative condition. Essentially, Tia's body progressively loses its functionality and she is given the opportunity to hook into a spaceship that will become both her life support system and her new body. 'Shellpersons' like Tia get matched up with an able-bodied person and go on various kinds of missions.
The thing I love about the book is how the disabled characters recognisably have their own culture (Shellpersons have their own type of music which works because of their sensory parameters, they tell 'Softperson' jokes, and there's references to how their experience impacts on their interactions with each other and with non-disabled people), and Tia fights to improves her rights as a worker and increase her autonomy re: her earnings, how she uses them, etc., instead of having to depend on an assigned able-bodied liaison. Essentially, the book makes the point that a scheme designed to benefit disabled people could also allow them to be exploited, but should not do so.
The ending might be a downfall, or might not. When Tia gets financial autonomy, she invests in various companies, including one which builds a prosthetic body she can transfer her consciousness into. This allows her to physically express her love for her Brawn pilot. So.... plus points for the fact that he falls for her as a disabled person, but minus points for the fact that the payoff at the end of the book is basically 'Yay, Tia has a facsimilie of her "normal" body back!'
I *think* that this was not the intention of the author, since we've already been shown how Shellperson consciousness, senses and experience are different from those of Softpersons rather than worse, and it's hard to imagine that Tia will give up zooming around the universe as a Brainship... but we all know about intent and how it's not actually the point. So it's very much a 'your mileage may vary' book for disabled readers...