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RE: Downs Syndrome Has Been Eliminated in Iceland. But was it Ethical?
Hahhaaha at uterus owner's manual! I didn't receive an owner's manual. It's a learn as you go type of thing!
People with Down Syndrome would likely enjoy a more ordinary human experience because the world caters to the majority, the average. It's difficult to be an outlier, especially when society doesn't see a benefit in your existence.
I can not agree with this one. Not from personal experience anyway. Maybe the situation is different elsewhere. I finished my schooling, got my diploma ... I am 34 years old ... no steady job and got nothing to show for. Oh dont get me wrong, I'm doing fine and this is not whining in any way. But here is the thing....What I have i built on my own, with the sweat on my back and calluses on my hands and brains. Does the world look at me and think oh lets give her more? Beeing capable means you have to fend on your own. U get pushed in that pool with a smirk and smile: swim or drown. But there is the other side. People who cant swim.
Now to clarify before someone thinks im ranting. I am not. I work with special needs. They bring me joy, they motivate me and i find every day a new chalange always looking for solutions and how I could do/give/make more. So this is my personal experience: they are mostly happy. They are striped of social norms, usually focused only on themselves and their own pleasure. Their mental and emotional age is much lower, meaning they look on the world much differently and not as they are different in anyway. Most even think of themselves as beeing better. When they look themselves in the mirror, they dont see themselves with predjustice and criticism as we do. They don't see themselves as an outlier. To make that valid they would first have to grasp the concept of "the world and its norms".
The world doesnt cater to me..."a capable healthy woman". But it caters to them. Here they get whole support from the system and sociality. I am always happy when one finishes our program and gets a job. Me? I have a job...for this year. Next year? I do not know.
Lets face it....i will never be a ballerina. I am to old, have to much meat on my bones and so much grace as a tractor. But I know 2 girls with down syndrom who are. They are not as slender, as gracefull or even young as the rest of balerinas. But they can be one.
Just saying....
I guess it depends where you live.
I appreciate your perspective and your work with those who have special needs.
I resonate with your argument on how people with Down Syndrome view themselves and the world, although I don't believe that they don't realize their differences. Instead, they work within their differences to do what they can to live their dreams and even be ballerinas if they have the means to do so.
You will always have an advantage over a person with Down Syndrome. Sure, people with Down Syndrome can receive assistance and care (catering) for their well-being, but the world isn't designed for them to thrive and some places - like Iceland - are eliminating these types of people totally.
Comparing the fact that you can't be a ballerina or that you're unemployed to people with Down Syndrome who are employed and ballerinas to show that the world caters to them is a reach. Your options for work and leisure are far more expansive than anything they could ever hope for. Of course, you can be a ballerina. It only takes paying someone to teach you. And you have not only the ability to find work, but the option to be an entreprenuer, create income on Steemit, etc.. The comparison to what opportuities they are afforded to those that you are afforded falls flat.
That's a thought provoking perspective, which is what I look for and value the most on this site. You've got yourself a new follower.