An intersesting site....

As part of another course, we have been required to view various blogs written by people who have been diagnosed with Autism. I've included a few of the blogs websites in the side bar. In any case, as I was planning for my weekly response I came across this article below. I've included only an excerpt from the article, however I've also provided the link if you would like to read further. The article is about a young girl who had severe cerebral palsy. Her parents, under the direction of their doctor, had their daughter Ashley's reproductive organs removed therefore stunting her growth and preventing the onset of puberty. little did they know that this little girl was cognitively age appropriate, however was given no way of communicating with her parents, or her doctor to protest their decision. The following is an excerpt reinforcing the necessity and the right of people being able to communicate:

"My ongoing concern is the readiness with which Ashley's parents, doctors and most commentators assumed they could make an accurate estimation of the understanding of a child without speech who has severely restricted movement. Any assessment of intelligence that relies on speech and motor skills cannot conceivably be accurate because the child doesn't have any of the skills required to undertake testing. To equate intelligence with motor skills is as absurd as equating it with height. The only possible way to find out how much a child who cannot talk actually understands is to develop an alternative means of communication for that child. An entire new discipline of non-speech communication has developed since I was born in1961, and there are now literally hundreds of non-speech communication strategies available. Once communication is established, education and assessment can follow,in the usual way. No child should be presumed to be profoundly retarded because she can't talk. All children who can't talk should be given access to communication therapy before any judgments are made about their intelligence. Ashley's condemned to be a Peter Pan and never grow, but it's not too late for her to learn to communicate. It's profoundly unethical to leave her on that pillow without making every effort to give her a voice of her own."
http://fridanow.blogspot.com/2007/06/forwarded-on-beheald-of-linda-edwards.html