| This thesis argues that although the field of genetic counseling takes the nondirective approach as its presumptive stance, the genetic counseling community may well have a bias concerning disability and disease which makes nondirective counseling difficult, if not impossible. Exploring the arguments engendered by the disabled community, it demonstrates how prejudiced attitudes toward disability and the disabled may adversely affect all phases of counseling. It examines alternative models of the disabled and their relation to the able-bodied community. It considers how individual counselors may rid themselves of this bias so that their counseling can be truly nondirective. Finally, it makes recommendations that would aid the genetic counseling community in developing a more cognizant view of the disabled. |
