The Washington Post had an opinion piece this week regarding a little-reported fact: discrimination against autistic people and children can cost a child his/her life.
Because of our son’s disability, the doctors at our local children’s hospital told us that no facility would perform the transplant, and we should prepare for him to die. A second hospital also refused to consider him. As Lief’s condition swiftly deteriorated, one young physician pleaded Lief’s case to a third transplant hospital, and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University opened its doors to us.
Good on LPCH but seriously? This story is awful on so many levels. The discrimination, the judgment on what his life was worth by medical professionals, and the refusal to treat a child are all terrible. It’s easier to digest because of the happy ending but that we still have to fight to have our children be worthy of saving is truly chilling.
You Aughta Know 