[Ohio-talk] Disabilities and their portrayal

[COLLEEN ROTH]

Hi Kaiti,
Good for you. You were correct in your evaluation of this attitude.
Unfortunately there are many physicians and other medical personnel who think that someone with a disability should be killed.
Fortunately there are many good doctors who do not agree with this attitude.
We have a group of parents in Toledo who meet with doctors and medical students to talk about care of children with Chronic Conditions and the care we expect for our children.
When you have a disability and your child has a disability it really gets interesting.
CP is so variable and so many other things which can occur at the same time. It's hard for some people when they can't lump everyone together.
It is interesting when someone thinks that all people with Down Syndrome have very high intelligence or above average. Sometimes this isn't the case and some people like to make judgments about this.
The other issue is that some people with Down Syndrome like very normal but have significant problems while others are very obviously physically affected.
You can't like the physically characteristics and the Developmental level of someone with Down Syndrome. My daughter Karen was an exception. She had all of the visual characteristics and Profound Mental Retardation.
We need to celebrate the opportunity we have to be a part of someone's life no matter how little they can do for themselves.
We are given an opportunity to be a part of this person's life and what a blessing this  be.

i am glad I wasn't in your classroom.
I would have probably been asked to leave because I wouldn't have done very well keeping my cool.
Good for you, please continue to speak up for those who can't speak for themselves.
I for one feel very blessed to have had my girs with significant disabilities in my life. My husband and I chose to adopt two of them.
I wonder how this teacher would have liked if his parents could have had him eliminated for some reason.
Colleen Roth

 

----- Original Message -----
From: Kaiti Shelton <kaiti.shelton at gmail.com>
To: "NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List" <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
Date: Thursday, January 30, 2014 11:21 am
Subject: [Ohio-talk] Disabilities and their portrayal

>
>
> 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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