Disability Bioethics, Ashley X, and Disability Justice For People with Cognitive Impairments

This chapter examines the case of Ashley X, a child whose parents advocated for and achieved growth attenuation and other medical interventions that were not strictly medically necessary for the care of Ashley. Wieseler positions Ashley’s case in a history of medical abuse of people who are diagnosed as having cognitive disabilities. She problematizes the medical interventions, noting that the goal to keep Ashley at the stage of development of a nine-year-old is motivated more by social challenges and biases of disability rather than any fact of Ashley’s cognitive impairment.