my computer has quit "seeing" my apple superdrive.

Try connecting the SuperDrive directly to the computer. Do not connect through any hub or dock.

If rebooting your Mac doesn’t fix things, see if the problem still happens in Safe mode (hold the shift key down at startup). It can take much longer to safe boot (10 min) so be patient.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support 

Safe mode disables loading third-party drivers, forces the OS to do disk repair, clear certain caches and logs and other miscellaneous housekeeping. It's non-destructive to user data so is safe to do. Very often certain weird software behavior is corrected by simply logging in this way as a troubleshooting method. When you're in safe boot, the machine will not be at its best performance, especially with graphics, but that's expected.

Does the problem persist while in Safe mode?

Exit safe mode by restarting your Mac normally and re-evaluate the issue again.

If the problem is still unresolved, please return here and post a reply and we’ll see what else we can come up with for help.

Well, that was my best advice at the moment. I'm disappointed it was not helpful.

Maybe another user might have suggestions.

Meanwhile, I know there are others in a similar situation, and I did take a peek at this particular thread:

USB-A Superdrive support in Ventura? - Apple Community