An editorial on Katie's death...
Jun. 11th, 2006 02:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly
Unhealthy to rationalize Katie McCarron's death
Unhealthy to rationalize Katie McCarron's death
Sunday, June 4, 2006
By Dr. Sheila T. Romano
People in around Morton and Peoria are struggling to make sense of the death of 3-year-old Katherine McCarron. Across the nation the developmental disabilities community is struggling, too. Like people in central Illinois, some are angry, some are confused, and all are saddened.
But in Peoria, Morton and communities nearby, there are those rationalizing little Katie McCarron's death against the challenges of raising a child with a developmental disability called autism. They might just be saying out loud or in their minds that a mom is justified in killing her child, either because they think they can't appreciate her plight or they actually think they can - and that it must be horrific.
This kind of thinking is dangerous and can send us down a slippery slope. As a matter of principle, our society does not - cannot - permit a mother or father killing their own child. If we start, where do we draw the line? Who decides which disabilities grant a mother the right to kill her child? The line could constantly shift.
If autism is OK, then is deafness? What about sex, race or religious affiliation? This is the same thinking that in the past has OK'd discrimination, institutionalization, segregation and even genocide. The history books are filled with examples of groups of people who at some time fell outside the line of protection provided by someone's fuzzy definition of "normal."
Every day, I meet people with developmental disabilities. They live in communities, keep apartments, have jobs to pay the rent, take part in their local communities, and lead what almost any of us would consider normal lives. They count among them people with developmental disabilities like Stephen Hawkins, Sir Isaac Newton and even one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence who, because of his disability, said as he signed, "My hand may shake, but my heart does not." Most of us would not have thought it possible for them to succeed with their various disabilities.
There are some in the community of developmental disabilities who think the system failed Katie McCarron by not providing enough services and family support. Family supports are key, but they can't cure the parent or the problem.
University of Alberta professor Dr. Dick Sobsey's research found that parents who end the life of a child share the same characteristics, regardless of whether the child has a disability. Often they suffer from depression, anxiety and high stress. Sobsey says parents who cry out for services to prevent more deaths are essentially holding their own children hostage, when it must be the parents who hold their children's lives precious above all else.
Yes, parents of children with developmental disabilities need help, support and compassion. But none should be held to a lesser standard.
It's a sad irony that Katie was killed around the time another Illinois doctor, Edward Van Dyck, threw his sons off the balcony of a Miami hotel. Might compassion and understanding for Katie's mom actually permit other parents, like Edward Van Dyck, to do the same to their kids . . . for their own reasons, of course?
In Illinois, the Land of Lincoln, there has never been a better time to remember what we stand for as a state - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans. All Americans are created equal.
If we are going to start being compassionate to parents who kill their kids, let's be compassionate to all of them.<0x00A0> But if we are going to say it's not OK for parents to take the life of their children, than let's be consistent and stop pretending that killing children with disabilities is any different than killing any other child. This is the only moral, ethical, medical, psychological, legal or legislative view that can be taken.
By drawing a distinct line that any murder is unacceptable, we can end the cycle of silent acceptance of these tragedies and hopefully help other parents of developmental disabilities see that the disability is just part of a child's individuality - and individuality, even if in the form of a challenging disability, should be celebrated, never snuffed out.
Unhealthy to rationalize Katie McCarron's death
Sunday, June 4, 2006
By Dr. Sheila T. Romano
People in around Morton and Peoria are struggling to make sense of the death of 3-year-old Katherine McCarron. Across the nation the developmental disabilities community is struggling, too. Like people in central Illinois, some are angry, some are confused, and all are saddened.
But in Peoria, Morton and communities nearby, there are those rationalizing little Katie McCarron's death against the challenges of raising a child with a developmental disability called autism. They might just be saying out loud or in their minds that a mom is justified in killing her child, either because they think they can't appreciate her plight or they actually think they can - and that it must be horrific.
This kind of thinking is dangerous and can send us down a slippery slope. As a matter of principle, our society does not - cannot - permit a mother or father killing their own child. If we start, where do we draw the line? Who decides which disabilities grant a mother the right to kill her child? The line could constantly shift.
If autism is OK, then is deafness? What about sex, race or religious affiliation? This is the same thinking that in the past has OK'd discrimination, institutionalization, segregation and even genocide. The history books are filled with examples of groups of people who at some time fell outside the line of protection provided by someone's fuzzy definition of "normal."
Every day, I meet people with developmental disabilities. They live in communities, keep apartments, have jobs to pay the rent, take part in their local communities, and lead what almost any of us would consider normal lives. They count among them people with developmental disabilities like Stephen Hawkins, Sir Isaac Newton and even one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence who, because of his disability, said as he signed, "My hand may shake, but my heart does not." Most of us would not have thought it possible for them to succeed with their various disabilities.
There are some in the community of developmental disabilities who think the system failed Katie McCarron by not providing enough services and family support. Family supports are key, but they can't cure the parent or the problem.
University of Alberta professor Dr. Dick Sobsey's research found that parents who end the life of a child share the same characteristics, regardless of whether the child has a disability. Often they suffer from depression, anxiety and high stress. Sobsey says parents who cry out for services to prevent more deaths are essentially holding their own children hostage, when it must be the parents who hold their children's lives precious above all else.
Yes, parents of children with developmental disabilities need help, support and compassion. But none should be held to a lesser standard.
It's a sad irony that Katie was killed around the time another Illinois doctor, Edward Van Dyck, threw his sons off the balcony of a Miami hotel. Might compassion and understanding for Katie's mom actually permit other parents, like Edward Van Dyck, to do the same to their kids . . . for their own reasons, of course?
In Illinois, the Land of Lincoln, there has never been a better time to remember what we stand for as a state - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans. All Americans are created equal.
If we are going to start being compassionate to parents who kill their kids, let's be compassionate to all of them.<0x00A0> But if we are going to say it's not OK for parents to take the life of their children, than let's be consistent and stop pretending that killing children with disabilities is any different than killing any other child. This is the only moral, ethical, medical, psychological, legal or legislative view that can be taken.
By drawing a distinct line that any murder is unacceptable, we can end the cycle of silent acceptance of these tragedies and hopefully help other parents of developmental disabilities see that the disability is just part of a child's individuality - and individuality, even if in the form of a challenging disability, should be celebrated, never snuffed out.
