[Ohio-talk] Disabilities and their portrayal

[Kaiti Shelton]

Yes, I referenced her speech "The Right to Live in the World" in my message.
I briefly met her at convention as well, but now that I'm taking a bioethics
course I'm starting to get a really clear idea of just how right she was.  I
agreed with the points of her speech when I first heard it in Orlando, but
it's baffling to actually see this stuff play out in front of you.  

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

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David
Andrews
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2014 11:33 AM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Disabilities and their portrayal

Are you familiar with Dr. Adrienne Asch, a blind bio-ethesist who recently
passed away.  She fought this stuff for years.  She addressed nfb convention
this year, which can be found in the August-September Braille Monitor.

Dave

At 10:21 AM 1/30/2014, you wrote:
>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


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