|
What does quality of life mean? I've been asking myself this for quite a while. I thought it meant how happy you are. But I've been doing research lately on Angelman Syndrome, a disorder characterized by a happy desposition, hyperactivity, motor problems and severe developmental delay, and found people talking about improving quality of life in these people. Obviously they're not talking about happiness, since one of the characteristics of Angelman Syndrome is to be happier than average. So, it seems to me they must be talking about how much of a burden this person is to society. And I just think why? Why should we try to make these people conform to society's expectations? Why not just accept them as they are? Now, I'm not against helping them gain new skills. I'm just against using how many skills they have gained as a measure of their worth, or happiness, or anything except how much support we need to give them in daily living. This goes for all disabled people. Above all, make sure they are happy in their everyday life. If they're not, it's usually not because of their disability(with the exception of mood disorders) but how they're treated. Everyone has the same potential for happiness, regardless of how well they can care for themselves. If functioning level was truly linked to happiness, gifted people would be happier than average. The sad truth is that gifted people actually have a higher than average incidence of depression and low self esteem. They are told that they should be able to do anything easily, or they learn this from experience, and then they come across something they can't do, and they feel worthless because their idea of self worth is tied into achievement. |
|
