A recent research report from Stanford has reignited an ongoing debate about the potential for curing Down syndrome the implications of such a possibility (it's never very far beneath the surface). Michael Bérubé has weighed in with a response to a New York Times article, and particularly to the comment it has generated. It a lengthy post, and has itself generated a good deal of comment - well worth the time to read if you up for a thoughtful discussion that is raised regularly. Here's a sample:
....... When I’m in one of my black-humor moods, the kind into which I was plunged last night upon reading that comment thread, I tend to say, “the reason all the T-shirts say ‘RACE FOR THE CURE’ is that ‘RACE FOR THE REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION’ doesn’t fit neatly on one side of the shirt.” By which I mean, of course, that the discourse of the cure is everywhere, and the discourse of reasonable accommodation, so far as I can see, is understood only by those people who already know something about disability, US disability law, ramps, kneeling buses, in-class paraprofessionals, and job coaches. It’s almost like a kind of sign language, spoken only by those who are already disability-literate.
Click here to read it in full.
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