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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
...is the number of people who insist on talking through their nether orifice. No one said anything about the shape and size of Ashley's brain. Her mental and motor functions stopped developing when she was 3 months old; there has been no cognitive development for over 9 years, since she was 3 months old. It is a *fact* that she is mentally 3 months old.
Ashley ceased developing mentally, leaving her with the mind of a 3-month-old infant. If you had a 3-month-old girl and they suddenly started to go through puberty, of course you'd have it medically arrested. You'd be negligent not to.
Keeping Ashley's weight down is also of extreme importance, as it reduces the chances for painful, eventually fatal bedsores. That's another reason for halting the development of breasts - they'd interfere with the straps used to hold Ashely upright, opening the possibility of more infections and bedsores.
I wonder if the freaks so upset about Ashely's surgery are also outraged when parents are forced to have mastectomies performed on young daughters who happen to get breast cancer. Are they incensed when parents elect to have cancerous testicles removed from their young sons? And why aren't you fools out rioting in front of the hospitals over the millions of circumcisions routinely performed on infant boys?
The parents are right here. The people pontificating about sexuality, autonomy, and mutilation have never been caregivers. The idiot from the caregivers' consortium did not tell you that while his/her organization has x-number of dollars, most people in this situation will STILL not be able to afford comprehensive care without family help. Until you have done this, day in, day out, AND really dealt with the sexuality of someone with a 9 month old brain (but a 16, 19, 20, 25 year old body) you not only don't know what you are talking about, you sound crazy (or stupid) to those who do.
Keeping her care in the family (first parents, then siblings) is the first line of preventing abuse. Keeping her small enough for the post parental care to be in a pediatric setting is a second line. There is no guaratee, but it makes a difference. If she grows bigger, she will have to be strapped into a wheel chair, with straps across the breasts. That's the reason for the removal- they will be hurt by the straps, backpain, and without motor control (she HAS NO MOTOR CONTROL) issues of breast cancer, etc are huge.
She will not be understanding or acting on any sexuality, so drop that. The ones who just don't understand the problem with menses are being deliberately obtuse.
This is not a "convenience". This is a necessity. People just don't get it. You can not change diapers, etc on someone over a certain weight and height at home without contraptions, and those things break. She's a dead weight. As they get older and frailer, how will they be able to handle a 110+ young woman?
She isn't a pet. She is human. But I balance her needs against those of her caregivers' so that the caregivers CAN continue to take care of her.
Stop projecting yourself into the situation, and focus on HER.
I agree that it says something fundamentally wrong about the US that they HAVE to think about this. Lip service to "family values" and "all life is sacred" (check out Crunchy Con and his diatribe against Down's Syndrome screens- and against parents who presumable abort severely disabled kids. The same holier than thou ignorance you see here, wrapped up in conservative "God sent you this burden" ideology and NO offers to help caregive or pay for care.)
I pray for the family. They will need it.
You, sir, are naive.
That's the reason for the removal
Just one point: some people have written about cutting her breasts off; nothing of the sort was done. Her breast buds were removed: "This operation involved removing Ashley’s subcutaneous, almond-sized breast buds, which contain the milk glands, while keeping the areolas and nipples intact."
should have been euthanised a long time ago. Poor, poor little thing.
Snarf!
You obviously have no children.
Three month olds can certainly smile, respond to stimulus such as music, familiar voices, etc. Both of my babies, at age 3 months, did not sleep nearly as much as I would have liked. SO, in answer to your question: No, a three-month-old does not sleep all the time.
I find it interesting you'd put your cursory Salon-based reading of her intellectual development ahead of a doctor's thorough examination, which found her to be arrested at about 3 months.
There's nothing creepy about "pillow angel" -- put yourself in this family's shoes, ferchrissakes! You people are completely lacking in common sense. GO to the family's web page. READ the links and comments from the doctors. I'm not saying this couldn't be abused (heck, sometimes I wish I didn't grow boobs myself!) but to judge this family for their decision and cast all kinds of strange insinuations and accusations on them is simply evil.
This is a wonderful story and the publicity it has received will surely save many families a lot of trouble over the next several decades. Now they all know about the Ashley treatment and can seek it for their own children.
Kay
I truly don't understand the relevance of her brain damage to justifying the physical mutiliation. The arguments for the Ashley Treatment are that she'll remain small and easier to care for (because she won't grow or be sexualized and thus attract potential abuse). But if she had a fully developed brain, yet still was unable to sit up or speak or move, would they nevertheless still be considering this treatment? What if she had a fully developed brain and could speak, but could not move at all? I simply don't see them coming to the same conclusion and giving her the Treatment. I
It seems that her lack of awareness of herself is the factor driving the ultimate justification for the surgery. This is beyond frightening. I agree with a previous poster; the more helpless and unable to speak for herself, the more a patient requires someone to look out for their rights. People who indisputably love you are not the best advocates for one's rights - not when they have self-interest involved, as is the case here.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
