By Randy Dotinga
02:00 AM Feb, 07, 2007
The parents of a severely disabled 9-year-old Seattle girl have stunted her growth and had her breasts and uterus removed in what they say is an effort to keep her comfortable, happy and portable. She does, after all, have the mind of a three-month-old baby.
Or does she?
No one is arguing that an intellectual mind is hidden inside the now-famous girl known only as "Ashley." But determining mental age is not a precise science. While assigning a mental age may give Ashley's parents some comfort, determining that number is based largely on guesswork.
"How do we know how a three-month-old thinks? We don't," said Cory Silverberg, a sexuality counselor who works with disabled people. "We know the observable output of their cognitions. And we guess. True, they are educated guesses, but I'd rather not mutilate a girl on the basis of an educated guess."
Ashley's unique case caused a media uproar last month, and her parents attracted much criticism for her medical treatment. Still, an ethics board at Seattle Children's Hospital approved the therapy, leaving the public and many ethicists to wonder how the board made its decision.
The hospital did not respond to requests for comment for this story
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Poster Comment:
Real tough call, but if she does in fact have the mental capacity of a three-month-old, based on the best science available to us, I agree with the parents decision.