Letter: Disabled challenge

Sir: The determination of Mrs Carol Glass in seeking a guarantee of lifesaving treatment for her disabled son in the event of future illness ("Why I won't allow them to let my son die", 29 April) highlights a key issue for all disabled people and their families.

Her moving account reminds us just how impossible it is to accurately judge what the future quality of a child's life will be, no matter how profoundly disabled they may appear.

Under the criteria set out by doctors' professional bodies, these same people may also have lost their right to treatment, and consequently their right to life, by decisions based on a restricted set of values and criteria very different from those of disabled people and their families, exemplified by the Glass family.

It is essential that those charged with guiding such decisions learn to challenge the generally accepted view that a disabled person's life is by nature one of limited quality and value.

RICHARD BREWSTER

Chief Executive

Scope

London N7