Ashley X: the battle of Growth attenuation
Ashley X is nine years-old and is severely disabled due to a disorder called static encephalopathy. Because of this disability her brain is affected leaving her to be physically and cognitively impaired. Ashley’s mindset is the same as a 3-6-month-old baby. To treat her disease her parents decided to use a treatment that’s normally used to stimulate the growth of an individual called Growth Attenuation. Along with the growth attenuation, they decided to have a hysterectomy, estrogen therapy, and an appendectomy. This form of treatment to me is unethical, unnecessary and as a human her rights were violated. However, Gary L. Stein and Sandy walker would agree that this form of treatment has improved …show more content…
For example, Sandy walker is a mother of a fifteen-year-old daughter named Jessica, she is severely disabled. She is a quadriplegic, nonverbal and is also fed through a gastrostomy tube. In her article “in support of the “Ashley treatment”—A parents view.” She states the many challenges she has faced now that her child has gone through a growth spurt. These challenges include not being able to take her to her favorite places and travel to many different places and participate in many different activities such as going to the beach. To compensate Jessica, and move her around the house they have instilled a manual lift. Although the lift can only be used in certain places such as at home and school and it doesn’t partake in helping with the recreational activities, they manage to make it work. Just as Sandy is making the best of her situation Ashley’s parents could have done the same instead of relying on the pharmacological remedies and surgery. They could have gotten an appropriate sized wheel chair, bathtub and homecare. These options would have also been less painful for the child that is already suffering. Sandy however is in support of the Ashley treatment; she suggests that the treatment was “a creative solution born of a deep-seated love for a child whose opportunities for familial and social interaction are already limited by size and mobility issues.” As she faces her daily challenges of caring for a severely disabled child that is in normal growth she states that those in opposition of the treatment like myself do not fully understand that implications and limitations of the child and the struggle of trying to keep them healthy and avoid them from feeling boredom or
Ashley X is nine years-old and is severely disabled due to a disorder called static encephalopathy. Because of this disability her brain is affected leaving her to be physically and cognitively impaired. Ashley’s mindset is the same as a 3-6-month-old baby. To treat her disease her parents decided to use a treatment that’s normally used to stimulate the growth of an individual called Growth Attenuation. Along with the growth attenuation, they decided to have a hysterectomy, estrogen therapy, and an appendectomy. This form of treatment to me is unethical, unnecessary and as a human her rights were violated. However, Gary L. Stein and Sandy walker would agree that this form of treatment has improved …show more content…
For example, Sandy walker is a mother of a fifteen-year-old daughter named Jessica, she is severely disabled. She is a quadriplegic, nonverbal and is also fed through a gastrostomy tube. In her article “in support of the “Ashley treatment”—A parents view.” She states the many challenges she has faced now that her child has gone through a growth spurt. These challenges include not being able to take her to her favorite places and travel to many different places and participate in many different activities such as going to the beach. To compensate Jessica, and move her around the house they have instilled a manual lift. Although the lift can only be used in certain places such as at home and school and it doesn’t partake in helping with the recreational activities, they manage to make it work. Just as Sandy is making the best of her situation Ashley’s parents could have done the same instead of relying on the pharmacological remedies and surgery. They could have gotten an appropriate sized wheel chair, bathtub and homecare. These options would have also been less painful for the child that is already suffering. Sandy however is in support of the Ashley treatment; she suggests that the treatment was “a creative solution born of a deep-seated love for a child whose opportunities for familial and social interaction are already limited by size and mobility issues.” As she faces her daily challenges of caring for a severely disabled child that is in normal growth she states that those in opposition of the treatment like myself do not fully understand that implications and limitations of the child and the struggle of trying to keep them healthy and avoid them from feeling boredom or