I work as a therapist for adults with developmental delay(DD) in Canada. As per the ethical guidelines, the adults with developmental delay have autonomy and choice as all other individuals.
I find this concept of autonomy very hard to accept and work with, especially in some cases.
Here are my difficulties with accepting this complete autonomy.
The adults I work with have lesser intelligence than the 'normal' people. A few DD adults I work with also have additional psychological and psychiatric issues such as ADHD, Bipolar disorder, Autism, FASD, Schizophrenia and so on.
For clients with DD & ADHD, low intelligence coupled with high degree of impulsive behaviours, inability to think before acting, inability to pay attention when learning or doing some task makes them get into serious trouble. They may have sex in unsafe manner, they may cause accidents due to inattention and impulsivity and so on. I strongly believe that they should be some mandate by the government so that their high risk behaviours are curtailed in order to keep them and society safe.
I have worked with about 6-8 families where the parents have DD. They have children and are unable to care for them, despite the help given to them by various staff from various agencies of the DSO. The children are at high risk for poor development both physically and mentally. I do understand that the adults with DD have rights to have children. But I am concerned that the children are highly vulnerable and at high risk for so many problems as their parents are DD.
I understand all the abuse heaped upon the mentally handicapped in the past by the governments and society in many countries. I accept that it is unethical to curtail their rights. But I also think that no one is looking out for the rights of the children of the DD parents.
I find this concept of autonomy very hard to accept and work with, especially in some cases.
Here are my difficulties with accepting this complete autonomy.
The adults I work with have lesser intelligence than the 'normal' people. A few DD adults I work with also have additional psychological and psychiatric issues such as ADHD, Bipolar disorder, Autism, FASD, Schizophrenia and so on.
For clients with DD & ADHD, low intelligence coupled with high degree of impulsive behaviours, inability to think before acting, inability to pay attention when learning or doing some task makes them get into serious trouble. They may have sex in unsafe manner, they may cause accidents due to inattention and impulsivity and so on. I strongly believe that they should be some mandate by the government so that their high risk behaviours are curtailed in order to keep them and society safe.
I have worked with about 6-8 families where the parents have DD. They have children and are unable to care for them, despite the help given to them by various staff from various agencies of the DSO. The children are at high risk for poor development both physically and mentally. I do understand that the adults with DD have rights to have children. But I am concerned that the children are highly vulnerable and at high risk for so many problems as their parents are DD.
I understand all the abuse heaped upon the mentally handicapped in the past by the governments and society in many countries. I accept that it is unethical to curtail their rights. But I also think that no one is looking out for the rights of the children of the DD parents.
