Disability digest
People with disabilities were the first victims of the Nazis
Director Cameron S. Mitchell describes people with disabilities as the first group of victims killed in the Holocaust, but the last to be remembered
In school textbooks it is rarely mentioned, even as a footnote, that the first victims of the mass and strategically devised persecution in Nazi Germany were actually people with disabilities. But to this day no historian has called it genocide, although it is factually established that the Nazis built the first gas chambers to systematically kill institutionalized people with disabilities. In those chambers around three hundred thousand people perished, yet that was merely a prelude to the most monstrous crime recorded in official history — the Holocaust in which six million European Jews were brutally murdered.
People with disabilities were unimaginably cruelly liquidated within the Aktion T4 program, which the Nazis launched in 1939 — before they began the “final solution” and the systematic killing of European Jews, including in gas chambers. For this bloody mission the Nazis primarily trained on people who had an intellectual or physical disability. The Nazis and their supporters justified that pogrom with the thesis that “people with disabilities do not have a life worth living.”
The Nazi program Aktion T4 was researched for twenty years by film director Cameron S. Mitchell, together with members of his family, and he immortalized his findings in the acclaimed and award-winning documentary Disposable Humanity. Director Mitchell describes people with disabilities as the first group of victims killed in the Holocaust, but the last to be remembered. He was, as he says, confused by how little was known about the Aktion T4 program, which later became the basis for the systematic killing of Jews.
— The erasure of people with disabilities is present at every level throughout history — said Mitchell.
— A monument to the victims of the Aktion T4 program was built in Berlin only in 2011, which made people with disabilities the last group of victims to be recognized in the city center. Another example of this is the Nuremberg trials where victims with disabilities were not the focus of the jury because they were not considered victims worthy of being regarded as human beings. I am very concerned that we do not know this history and therefore we are obliged to repeat it, even in this way in film.
— We must protect the most vulnerable, because they are the first rung on the social ladders. People with disabilities are the canary in the coal mine for fascist regimes — concludes Mitchell, bitterly, perhaps also because members of his family have various forms of disability.
His parents David Mitchell and Sharon Snyder are scholars who have devoted much of their careers to the study of disability. Their contribution to the creation of the film Disposable Humanity is huge and significant, not least because they helped research Nazi media propaganda in which it was repeatedly stated that people with disabilities were a group that was (sic!) a threat to society.
A new policy introduced by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump could make it significantly more difficult for people with disabilities to immigrate to the United States and may discourage immigrant families from using healthcare and other public benefits to which they are legally entitled, disability rights organisations warn
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has adopted a rule expanding the circumstances under which people applying for visas or permanent residency may be considered a “public charge.”
Such a determination can result in an immigration application being denied if authorities conclude that the individual is likely to become dependent on government assistance over the long term.
Disability advocates are particularly concerned that immigration officials may take applicants’ health conditions and functional limitations into account when making these assessments. Organisations representing people with disabilities warn that individuals who require long-term medical care or various forms of support could therefore face greater disadvantages during the immigration process.
Experts say the consequences could extend well beyond immigration proceedings themselves. They point to the so-called “chilling effect,” in which people avoid using public programmes out of fear that doing so could jeopardise their immigration status, even when they are legally entitled to those services.
A similar pattern was observed during President Trump’s first administration after a comparable public charge rule was introduced.
Families in which children are U.S. citizens but their parents are immigrants are expected to be particularly affected. Disability rights advocates warn that parents may avoid enrolling their children in Medicaid or other healthcare programmes because they fear this could negatively affect future visa or permanent residency applications, even though participation in certain programmes should not, in many cases, have such consequences.
Organisations providing legal assistance to immigrants also warn that the complexity of the new rules will make it difficult for many families to understand what is and is not permitted. As a result, they expect some people to forgo healthcare, rehabilitation services or other forms of assistance as a precaution, potentially leading to serious consequences for their health and quality of life.
Representatives of disability rights organisations argue that the new rule creates additional barriers for people who already face challenges in accessing education, employment and healthcare because of their health conditions or disabilities.
They maintain that immigration decisions should be based on established legal criteria rather than assumptions about potential future healthcare or social service costs.
For some patients, epileptic seizures have been reduced by an astonishing 90%, significantly improving their ability to carry out everyday activities while restoring their confidence and quality of life
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An antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) drug is still undergoing clinical trials and is awaiting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Even so, it has already generated considerable optimism and hope among people living with epilepsy.
ASO works cumulatively, and its developers stress that it is not a universal cure for epilepsy. Nevertheless, patients who have received the treatment describe its effects as remarkable. The drug is administered directly into the spinal canal, and as its effects gradually diminish between doses, some symptoms may temporarily return.
What is particularly encouraging is that, in some patients, epileptic seizures have been reduced by as much as 90%. Many have become far more capable of managing everyday tasks and have regained confidence and a renewed sense of purpose.
One such patient is 17-year-old American Connor Dalby, who was previously unable to walk. After receiving the experimental treatment, he gained the ability to run. However, he continues to live with a severe form of autism spectrum disorder and developmental and epileptic encephalopathy, a rare type of epilepsy.
Connor is still unable to speak independently and, although he can now stand and move around on his own, he often requires guidance from his caregivers. He continues to need full-time care, but his condition has improved dramatically compared with before he began receiving the treatment.
Connor is among a small number of patients granted access to the experimental therapy through an FDA-authorised expanded access programme while the drug remains in clinical testing.
In simple terms, the experimental treatment reduces the activity of the mutated gene responsible for causing epilepsy while preserving the function of the healthy copy of the gene. Researchers believe that this ability to suppress the harmful genetic signal while maintaining the beneficial one could potentially be applied to patients with a wide range of disease-causing mutations.
Identifying these mutations shortly after birth and beginning treatment as early as possible may help children avoid developmental impairments caused by persistent epileptic seizures.
Specialised autism training received by an emergency dispatcher played a crucial role in locating a three-year-old boy with autism who wandered away from his home in the U.S. state of Ohio. The case highlights how understanding the characteristics of autism can be vital during searches for missing children
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When the boy’s mother reported her three-year-old son missing, emergency dispatcher Rebecca Elias immediately recognised that the situation required a different approach from the standard protocol.
Thanks to the training she had previously completed, Elias asked several questions that would not normally be included in a routine emergency call. In particular, she wanted to know whether there were any swimming pools, lakes or other bodies of water near the family’s home.
Police officers and rescue teams were immediately directed to a nearby swimming pool, where the boy was found alive and safely rescued.
Rebecca Elias completed a training programme provided by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). The programme is designed for emergency dispatchers, law enforcement officers and other first responders to help them better understand the behaviour of people on the autism spectrum during emergency situations.
According to NCMEC guidance, children with autism who wander away often do not respond when called by name, may avoid contact with rescuers, or may be drawn to specific places or objects. The organisation also warns that bodies of water present one of the greatest dangers during such incidents, as drowning is the leading cause of death among children with autism who wander.
For this reason, emergency responder training focuses on recognising behavioural patterns commonly associated with autism and adapting search strategies to the specific needs of individuals on the autism spectrum.
Following the successful rescue, Rebecca Elias said that the training enabled her to ask the right questions immediately and direct the search in a way that ultimately led to a positive outcome.
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