[Ohio-talk] Disabilities and their portrayal

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi all, 

 

I made quite a stir in my medical ethics class this morning.  We were asked
to consider an example from our book, which concerned a 10 year old boy who
was according to the book having all these horrible issues as a result of
CP.  Some of the things the book claimed about this boy were not
characteristics of CP at all, and it even claimed that CP was genetic itself
rather than caused by complications.  The question was, "Is it moral to kill
Johnny via lethal injection to end his pain and the suffering of his
parents?"  I wasn't going to say anything at first, but then I started
questioning things.  Is it moral to kill someone if you think they're in
pain, but they don't have the autonomy to tell you whether they are or not?
Is it moral to kill a child when his parents are making the request?  Is it
moral to make this decision without full and accurate knowledge of what the
condition really is?  

 

And you know what happened?  When I contradicted the book the professor was
first flustered, then when I started answering questions with the knowledge
I had he told me I was ahead of the curve, and proceeded with his lecture,
using the false information and pretenses the book provided.  I was shocked.
This is a class of pre-med majors (and me who is the only non-medical
specific person in the class), and it boggled me that this sort of stuff
would be fed to the next generation of doctors, dietitions, exercise
scientists, etc.  I know this is just an undergraduate class, but shouldn't
doctors always take a patient-centered approach, or a human-centered
approach for that matter?  And I'm reminded of "The Right to Live in the
World," and how what that speech says applies to this situation.  The
misinformation in my bioethics textbook only substantiates the claim that
people with disabilities lead miserable or terribly painful lives, and that
misninformation in the minds and hands of future doctors is a scary thing to
me.  

 

Anyway, just thought I'd continue discussion on this topic with others who
will get it.  I'm sorry if I ranted a little; I got a little passionate on
this issue.  

 

Kaiti Shelton

University of Dayton---2016

Music Therapy Major, Psychology Minor, Clarinet

Ohio Association of Blind Students, President 

NFB Community Service Group, Service Project Committee Chair

Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma