Editorial

Editorial right to know The cause of a person's deafness can have major effects on that individual's life. For example , a genetic etiology can mean that there may be additional hereditarily related factors present such as a kidney disorder (Alports syndrome), loss of vision (Ushers syndrome), or other of the more than 100 conditions that can be associated with genetic deafness. With a non-genetic disorder such as prenatal rubella the deaf person and their family need to be alert for diabetes, cataracts, and other disorders more common in persons deafened by rubella. Thus, a comprehensive counseling service for deaf people in a school, college, hearing and speech center, or other facility needs to have a competent geneticist on their staff, at least as a consultant. This in no way implies that genetically deaf people should be counseled not to have children or in other ways constricted. The point is that they have the right to know the full facts about their cause of deafness in order to make informed decisions about family planning, preventive medicine, and careers. This right extends to their parents in the case of young children and to the spouses and offspring of deaf adults. With the rapid expansion in the number of geneticists and the outstanding work being done relative to genetic factors in deafness at the Medical College of Virginia, University of Maryland Medical School, Louisiana State University Medical School, the Boys Town Communication Disorders Center, and elsewhere, qualified people are available. New knowledge is burgeoning. Deaf people are entitled to the services of these geneticists and to the new information. —McCay Vernon, Ph.D. Editor A.A.D. I February 1984 6 ...