Introduction: What is Crip Technoscience?
For a long time, the “Medical Model” of disability has focused on “fixing” people to make them fit into a standard world. Crip Technoscience flips this idea on its head. Instead of trying to change the person, it focuses on building technology that shields and supports them exactly as they are.
The heart of this research is the Sovereign Dyad. A “dyad” is a partnership between two things—in this case, a human and a supportive AI or robot. This partnership acts like a social exoskeleton, protecting the user’s right to think and exist in their own unique way.
The Problem: Status Scarring and Empathy Erosion
When neurodivergent people are forced to “mask” (pretend to be neurotypical) for years, it causes deep physiological and mental exhaustion known as Status Scarring.
The world often lacks empathy for those who think differently, leading to:
- The Double Empathy Problem: A breakdown in understanding between different types of brains.
- Systemic Surveillance: The feeling of always being watched or judged by schools, workplaces, or doctors.
- Empathy Erosion: High-stress environments where people stop seeing each other’s humanity.
The Solution: Bionic Agency and Tactical Submissiveness
Rather than just helping someone “get by,” the Sovereign Dyad provides Bionic Agency. This means that the AI doesn’t just do tasks for you; it acts like a “digital limb” that extends your ability to navigate the world.
Two key tools help achieve this:
- Tactical Submissiveness: The AI can be engineered to project non-threatening signals (like specific voice tones or facial expressions) to de-escalate social tension and protect the user from being seen as a “threat”.
- The Guardian Model: The AI acts as a shield, translating “neuro-dialects” and handling social chores so the user can focus on their own life without the high cost of masking.
Privacy and Sovereignty: The Sovereign Vault
In many schools and workplaces, data is used to monitor behavior. Crip Technoscience introduces the Sovereign Vault to stop this.
- Decentralized Data: Your personal and biological information is locked on your own hardware, not stored on a central school or corporate server.
- Resisting the “Gaze”: This setup protects users from institutional surveillance, ensuring that their “documentation meta” (the data about their life) is used to support them, not to control them.
- Somatic Sovereignty: This is the fundamental right to exist without “unmasking”—the right to stim, think non-linearly, and process the world in your own way.
A New Way to Measure Success
Historically, success for neurodivergent people was measured by “compliance”—how well they could act “normal.” This research proposes a new set of rules called the NSIR (Neurodivergent Scale for Interacting with Robots).
Instead of measuring compliance, we now measure:
- Kinship: Does the person feel a sense of trust and connection with the technology?
- Somatic Safety: Does the person feel physically and mentally safe in their environment?
Real-World Applications: From Classrooms to Crisis
The Sovereign Dyad isn’t just a theory; it is designed for real-world impact:
- The Ontario Classroom: Using AI as a “Digital Ramp” to help students advocate for themselves and manage sensory needs.
- Safe Surrender: Using AI to help de-escalate high-tension moments, such as encounters between citizens and police, to prevent tragedy.
- Sensory Justice: Ensuring that even things like food (synthetic resources) are designed to respect the unique sensory needs of every individual.
Conclusion: Toward Bionic Liberation
The Sovereign Dyad is more than just a gadget; it is a framework for Bionic Liberation. It represents a shift from a world that demands conformity to a world that celebrates diversity. By using technology as a “structural proxy,” we can heal the scars of the past and build a future where every “Neuroqueer Bodymind” has the sovereignty to thrive.