Your Letters - March 2011

Your views

Termination ethics: readers reply

I read the article “Hard choices – birth and termination” (Disability Now, February 2011) with sadness. I don’t feel a magazine dedicated to the welfare of disabled people should support the view that “terminating” a disabled unborn child is just a matter of choice, or state that it is “unhelpful to make judgements as to the rights and wrongs of termination”.

Deliberately killing human beings in the womb is now allowed by law and, if the child is suspected of a disability, it seems almost mandatory. Against that background, Julie, who wished to keep her baby, was treated “like a leper”.

I was luckier with my consultant when, pregnant at the age of 45, I refused all tests. I was told that although the odds were high that the child would have Down’s syndrome, they weren’t overwhelming. “Who better than you to look after a disabled child?” the consultant said. “Since you’re so determined, you’ll be a match for anyone who dares to offer your child poor treatment!”

As it happened, my daughter, born on a Friday 13th, wasn’t disabled: “Lucky Friday”, she calls it.

Discrimination against disabled individuals begins in the womb and continues throughout life. Abortion for disability sends out a message to all disabled people that society would rather they’d never been born.

Many of the so-called breakthroughs on disability are to do with refining the tests to detect disabling condit­ions before birth and get rid of those who have them. According to the medical profession and the Dept of Health, it’s more “cost-effective”.                                     
Janet Secluna Thomas, Dinas Powys

I was disturbed by Elena’s story. She seemed so discouraged at the low standard of care that her own clients had to put up with that when she became pregnant with a Down’s syndrome daughter, she couldn’t bear the thought of the suffering she’d later encounter, and decided not to continue with her pregnancy.

I’m shocked. The world isn’t a perfect place, but there are people fighting tooth and nail for the services for their disabled children. Like Julie, I’m disabled and l’m here today largely because my parents and elder siblings fought for the services I needed. That determination rubbed off on me. I can be a very determined person in my own right. Julie is a very brave lady. My heart goes out to her. What the hospital put her through was despicable. Elena, by contrast, made one big mistake. She gave up hope.

As for the new screening test for Down’s syndrome, it’s no breakthrough. It’s just an earlier way to seek out and destroy a little one who’s as human as anyone else. No one should have such a right.
Sue Jameson, Basildon, Essex

I was very interested to read  the interviews with Lord Falconer, chair of the Commission on Assisted Dying, and with Kevin Fitzpatrick, member of the Not Dead Yet campaign.

Both interviews lean towards the assumption that disabled people are against a change in the law. Is there any real evidence that this is the case?

I’m disabled by a rare muscular dystrophy that has severely limited my mobility and has caused me to need a ventilator at night while sleeping. I’m very much in favour of a change in the law, and object strongly to blanket assumptions other disabled people necessarily feel differently.

It would be instructive to carry out a wide sample of opinion among this group. I suspect that one would end with figures similar to those of the general population, with around three quarters in favour of a change.

There’s no evidence that a change in the law would harm vulnerable disabled people. It does not appear to have done so in places where assisted dying is legal. All the organisations campaigning for a change in the law agree that there would have to be strict legal safeguards to prevent this being a problem.
Name and address supplied

Slimming advice vital

I read Robert Bluck's letter on how best to stay slim ("Your views", Disability Now, January 2011). I agree that more information on this topic would be useful for the many people in a similiar situation.

I have various congenital multiple physical disabilit­ies: scoliosis, fixed right hip, fixed right ankle, unstable right knee and a left leg amputated through the knee, to mention just a few.

I use a manual wheelchair, and two sticks for shorter distances. Fortunately I learnt to swim at a young age and went on to compete in this sport.

When growing up I was quite a chubby child due to reduced mobility, and it wasn't until I got heavily into swimming and started to learn more about nutrition that I lost weight.

Swimming now serves as my main way to keep fit. I have a balanced diet and a healthy weight but it's important that I take care to maintain this.

I've completed a BSc honours degree in nutrition, health and lifestyles and I'm now working as an NHS Health Trainer, supporting people on a daily basis to lead healthier lifestyles.

The most common goals people have is weight loss and increasing physical activity. I believe that most people can control their weight by increasing their energy expenditure in some way. It can be all too easy to focus on the negative when a person is battling with their weight. It can help to focus on what positive changes are being made i.e. having a high-fibre cereal instead of cornflakes.

Even if the scales don't go down at once, it's likely that there will still be a positive influence on health and well-being. Sleep patterns may improve, energy levels increase, skin feel better, etc. Changing behaviour can be very difficult but making small changes that can be maintained is vital to long term success.
Kimberley Bailey, by email

Beware! E-books may damage your fingertips!

I’m surprised and concerned that your review of e-books (“Tried & tested”, Disability Now, February 2011) ignored the fact that to read a typical “open” double page in a paper­back, you have to use four clicks or four finger slashes. While users will be able to join RSI groups, shouldn’t a word of caution be added to the excellent facilities on e-books: excess usage is likely to leave you physically wrecked?

Kevin Fleisch, London E17

ED’S NOTE

If you read e-books via the text-to-speech facility referred to in our review, the pages turn automatically without the reader needing to do anything.