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.
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.
Asking for forgiveness may be oppressive to a patient or family still grappling with the fact of the harm, the impact of the harm, and their own emotional response to the harm.