Defining typical appearance as a goal of health service provision is harmful and unnecessary for traits that are stigmatized but neither harmful nor distressing.
AMA J Ethics. 2021;23(7):E569-575. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2021.569.
Clinicians can practice disability humility by developing social understandings of disability. This can help clinicians improve communication and express respect for patients’ authority about their experiences.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(12):E1181-1187. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1181
Drawing on the film Wonder, this article examines how a narrative of community acceptance offers sustaining relationships for people with unusual facial appearance.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(11):E1003-1008. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.1003.
S. Michelle Ogunwole, MD, PhD and Francheska D. Starks, PhD
Testimonial injustice is an expression of racism that uses identity to undermine individuals’ credibility as authoritative “knowers” of their own bodies, selves, and experiences.
AMA J Ethics. 2024;26(1):E72-83. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.72.
Some disability advocates take issue with the “normalization” goals of the medical model of rehabilitation, but expressions of that position can be dismissive of rehabilitationists’ efforts to remediate oppressive functional deficits.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(6):562-567. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.6.msoc1-1506.