Disability: Parents with Intellectual Disabilities

A gulf exists between the rights and the realities of parents with intellectual disabilities. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities affirms the right of persons with disabilities to marry and found a family. Moreover, in Article 23, states are bound to ¿take effective action and appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination¿¿ and ¿¿render appropriate assistance to persons with disabilities in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities.¿ The brutal reality however is that parents with intellectual disabilities rarely receive appropriate assistance and many have their children taken from them by child protection authorities. This book examines decision-making in child protection and court systems. Applying the discourse ethics of the contemporary German philosopher Jürgen Habermas, the author finds that with respect to parents with intellectual disabilities and their children, the process is anything but just.