{"title":"Disability, Genetic Counseling, and Medical Education: From Eugenics to Anti-Ableism.","authors":"Cassie Houtz, Rebecca Mueller","doi":"10.1146/annurev-genom-022024-010951","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Genetic counselors have a complex relationship with disability communities due to both the legacy of eugenics and their ongoing role counseling families about prenatal testing. Drawing on a social model of disability and highlighting mistaken assumptions about quality of life for people with disabilities, scholars and activists have raised concerns about genetic technologies that strive to eliminate disability. We review the disability rights critique of prenatal screening and emphasize its ongoing relevance to genetic counseling. We then consider disability perspectives on prognostication in genetics and highlight disability-informed critiques of gene therapies. We close by reviewing efforts by, and opportunities within, the genetic counseling profession to center the perspectives of people with disabilities in genetic counseling practice and education.</p>","PeriodicalId":8231,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of genomics and human genetics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annual review of genomics and human genetics","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-genom-022024-010951","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"GENETICS & HEREDITY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Genetic counselors have a complex relationship with disability communities due to both the legacy of eugenics and their ongoing role counseling families about prenatal testing. Drawing on a social model of disability and highlighting mistaken assumptions about quality of life for people with disabilities, scholars and activists have raised concerns about genetic technologies that strive to eliminate disability. We review the disability rights critique of prenatal screening and emphasize its ongoing relevance to genetic counseling. We then consider disability perspectives on prognostication in genetics and highlight disability-informed critiques of gene therapies. We close by reviewing efforts by, and opportunities within, the genetic counseling profession to center the perspectives of people with disabilities in genetic counseling practice and education.
期刊介绍:
Since its inception in 2000, the Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics has been dedicated to showcasing significant developments in genomics as they pertain to human genetics and the human genome. The journal emphasizes genomic technology, genome structure and function, genetic modification, human variation and population genetics, human evolution, and various aspects of human genetic diseases, including individualized medicine.