title: The Ashley Treatment: furthering the anthropology of/on disability.
abstract: Questions regarding access to and the use of medical and surgical treatment for people with disabilities revisit themes central to medical anthropology. The "Ashley Treatment" is named after a nine-year-old girl, Ashley, who has extreme physical and cognitive disabilities. The Treatment refers to extensive medical and surgical procedures that are claimed to improve quality of life and prevent future medical problems. The Treatment has stimulated lively public debate on disability, medicalization, and caregiving. We illustrate how the Ashley Treatment emphasizes the importance of medical anthropological research on the construction of personhood and childhood disability, agency and autonomy, and the rights of representation and control, as well as the ethics of invasive procedures, hormone therapy, and body modification surgery.
authors.forename: Heather T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Battles
authors.forename: Lenore
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Manderson
mesh_terms: D000883:Anthropology; D001675:Bioethics; D002648:Child; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life