Dear Dr. Phil,
What the disability community can do:
I am writing on behalf of the millions of people with intellectual
and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in our nation and their loved ones
that may have seen the April 13, 2012
Dr. Phil episode entitled “Deadly Consequences.” As the nation’s largest organization serving and advocating on behalf of people with I/DD, with a
network of over 700 chapters
across the country, we’ve received many outraged complaints about the
content of this program, and after viewing it, I felt compelled to
contact you to voice our concerns.
Frankly, we are appalled by the
superficial coverage
given to a subject that is, literally, a matter of life or death for
Jeffrey, Janet and many other people with severe physical and cognitive
disabilities. Your show did a great disservice to people with
intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as others who
develop severe disabilities throughout their lifetimes as a consequence
of traumatic brain injury, trauma experienced in serving our country,
and the natural process of aging. Moreover, asking the audience to serve
as Dr. Phil’s death panel and vote on whether Jeffrey’s and Janet’s
lives are worth living was simply wrong. It is reassuring that the
majority of people taking the online poll on your website reject the
audience’s conclusion.
Annette Corriveau is entitled to free speech. But so are her son
Jeffrey and daughter Janet. While they cannot physically speak for
themselves, your program still could have provided for their voice to be
heard. It should not be presumed that people who can’t speak are
totally unable to communicate. Perhaps you could have interviewed the
caregivers who interact with them on a day to day basis and could speak
with authority about how Jeffrey and Janet communicate what they are
feeling and about their quality of life. Often it is more a matter of
our learning how to listen and to interpret the other cues that
individuals with severe disabilities are able to provide. Your show
focused only on Annette’s opinion, and while she is their mother, she
admitted that she sees them only every other month and institutionalized
her children many years ago.
You also could have interviewed other people with severe disabilities
who, like Jeffrey and Janet, were written off as having no value and no
abilities, yet who have succeeded in living in and in participating in
their communities. Too often people with severe disabilities are
dismissed, yet when given a chance and provided appropriate supports
they can rise above the low expectations that others have for them. You
might, for example, have interviewed other parents who fought to get
their son or daughter out of an institution and have been amazed at how
they have succeeded far beyond what anyone expected.
The show would also have been enriched by interviewing some of the
many experts that have a deep understanding of individuals like Jeffrey
and Janet and extensive experience in supporting people with severe
disabilities to live meaningful lives in the community. There are
families all across the nation fighting to get their sons and daughters
with severe disabilities out of institutions and get them the home and
community based services they need. Their perspective, and that of
advocates in the disability rights movement, would have added balance to
the show. Your viewers need to understand the history of oppression of
people with severe disabilities in the country and how far we’ve come.
The viewer has no idea of the dark history of the eugenics movement in
the United States and globally because you didn’t show it.
The Arc is the largest national charity federation
advocating
for and serving people with I/DD, including Down syndrome, autism,
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, cerebral palsy and other diagnoses.
The Arc has a network of over 700 chapters across the country promoting
and protecting the human rights of people with I/DD and actively
supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community
throughout their lifetimes and without regard to diagnosis.
We can serve as a resource for future shows, providing technical
assistance and suggesting guests (experts in the I/DD field,
self-advocates, professional support staff, and families) to help
explain the complex issues facing people with I/DD for the audience who
may have no interaction with people with disabilities in their daily
lives. The result of your failure to include this perspective left the
impression on your millions of viewers that Jeffrey, Janet, and other
citizens with disabilities don’t have a voice and rights. They do.
The Dr. Phil show has a responsibility to get it right for your
viewers, including people with I/DD. On behalf of people with I/DD and
their families, we ask that you plan another show that would demonstrate
this history, illustrating how people with severe disabilities who were
previously relegated to institutions have defied all expectations.
The timing is right for you to put these issues in the living rooms
of Americans, as fifty years ago, President Kennedy made a call to the
nation to help bring people with intellectual and developmental
disabilities out of the shadows, to give them opportunities to lead
productive, quality lives. We are also approaching the 30th anniversary
of the state of New York announcing the closure of the nation’s most
notorious institution, Willowbrook, which was an overcrowded, filthy,
deplorable warehouse for thousands of children for decades and the site
of a highly controversial Hepatitis A study starting in the mid-1950s
through the 1970s.
The Arc stands ready and willing to assist you in preparing a program
that accurately portrays the lives of people with intellectual and
developmental disabilities, shows the rich history of this movement, and
makes the public aware of just how similar people with severe
disabilities are to you and me.
I hope you take The Arc up on our offer to be a resource for you so
that you can live up to your duty as a journalist and so that people
with I/DD have a seat at your table in upcoming episodes.
Sincerely,
Peter V. Berns
CEO, The Arc of the United States
