Life is complicated.

Dr. Coplan reflects on ethics, politics, and government

The State of Indiana has just passed a law banning abortions based upon the race, gender, or possible disability status of the fetus.  If you believe that all abortion is murder, you will have no problem with this bill (except, perhaps, that it does not go far enough). Otherwise, you will probably find this bill offensive, for various reasons.

You might regard fetal gender as reason that could not ethically be raised for termination of pregnancy, but life is not so simple. Many years ago, the parents of a child with severe autism approached me with a request: They wanted more children, but were afraid of having another child with autism. Since boys with autism outnumber girls by a factor of 4 to 1, they wanted to have only girls. This “girls only” strategy would seem to reduce their risk by 75%. (We know now that this logic is not exactly correct. In fact, the recurrence risk depends on the gender of the child already born with ASD, as well as the gender of fetus, in a much more complicate fashion than the simple male:female ratio of children with ASD in the overall population. You can read more here. But 20 years ago we didn’t have that information.) The parents’ request: Would I write a letter to their Ob-Gyn, laying out the rationale for fetal sexing and selective termination of male pregnancies? Read the rest of this entry »

Consultation and advocacy to secure services for children with ASD – Sometimes the Magic Works.

Chief Dan George (1899-1981), Old Lodge Skins

Consultation and advocacy to secure services for children with ASD – Sometimes the Magic Works.

Dr. Coplan describes one small victory over “The System.”

Impossible, but true: The film “Little Big Man,” starring Dustin Hoffman, was released in 1970. Most of you were not even born in 1970. OMG. Unless you’re a movie buff, you’ve probably never seen (or even heard of) it. The Graduate (1967) and Midnight Cowboy (1969) already had turned Hoffman into a rising young superstar. Later roles (Tootsie -1982; Rainman – 1988) would cement his role as one the greatest American actors of the 20^th century.

“Little Big Man” is the name Hoffman’s character receives from his Native American mentor, Old Lodge Skins. Old Lodge Skins is full of wisdom, leavened by humility and a sense of the absurd tragedy which is the human condition. “Today is a good day to die,” Old Lodge Skins was prone to say, before an impending battle. Not that dying itself was the goal, but that if one’s affairs are in order and one acts with honor, then dying is not to be feared. I won’t spoil the story for you; just see the film. You won’t be disappointed. Read the rest of this entry »