Law Commons^™

The Legal Foundations Of Special Education, Wendy Hensel, Colleen O'Rourke

Wendy F. Hensel

Special Education for All Teachers provides practical information, presents the philosophy of inclusion, and the application and implementation of laws related to the education of students with special needs, and discusses the identifying characteristics of students with special needs.

The Impact Of Disability: A Comparative Approach To Medical Resource Allocation In Public Health Emergencies, Katie Hanschke, Leslie E. Wolf, Wendy F. Hensel

Wendy F. Hensel

It is a matter of time before the next widespread pandemic or natural disaster hits the United States (U.S.). The international response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza stands as a cautionary tale about how prepared the world is for such an emergency. Although the pandemic fortunately proved to be less severe than initially anticipated, it nevertheless resulted in shortages of medical equipment, overburdened hospitals, and preventable patient deaths, particularly among young people.

A pandemic will inevitably lead to difficult decisions about the allocation of medical resources, such as who will have priority access to ventilators and critical care beds when …

Civil Rights Have A Place In Conversation, Wendy Hensel

Wendy F. Hensel

No abstract provided.

Bridging The Physical-Mental Gap: An Empirical Look At The Impact Of Mental Illness Stigma On Ada Outcomes, Wendy Hensel, Gregory Jones

Wendy F. Hensel

A plaintiff who seeks redress for disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act must first show that he or she is "disabled" within the meaning of the statute. There is no question that all plaintiffs have experienced difficulty in making this showing as a result of several Supreme Court decisions narrowing the definition of "disability."Many scholars have argued that courts do not appreciate the social construction of disability and focus too much attention on medical diagnoses and functional limitations rather than the impact of societal attitudes and prejudices. Some scholars have gone further, however, to theorize that individuals alleging …

The Disabling Impact Of Wrongful Birth And Wrongful Life Actions, Wendy Hensel

Wendy F. Hensel

This article explores the torts of wrongful birth and wrongful life, which primarily arise when a physician or laboratory is negligent in the context of pre-natal genetic testing. In wrongful birth actions, the parents claim that if they had been properly informed of the genetic defect, they would have aborted their now-existing child or prevented his conception. In wrongful life actions, the disabled child brings suit in his own name claiming that it would have been better if he had never existed in the first place. Central to such actions is the child's assertion that his parents rightfully should have …

Valuing Lives: Allocating Scarce Medical Resources During A Public Health Emergency And The Americans With Disabilities Act, Leslie Wolf, Wendy Hensel

Wendy F. Hensel

Public health emergencies from natural disasters, infection, and man-made threats can present ethically or legally challenging questions about who will receive scarce resources. Federal and state governments have offered little guidance on how to prioritize distribution of limited resources. Several allocation proposals have appeared in the medical literature, but components of the proposed approaches violate federal antidiscrimination laws and ethical principles about fair treatment. Further planning efforts are needed to develop practical allocation guidelines that comport with antidiscrimination laws and the moral commitment to equal access reflected in those laws.

Playing God: The Legality Of Plans Denying Scarce Resources To People With Disabilities In Public Health Emergencies, Wendy F. Hensel, Leslie E. Wolf

Wendy F. Hensel

Public health emergencies can arise in a number of different ways. They can follow a natural disaster, such as Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 tsunami, and the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. They may be man-made, such as the September 11 attacks and the anthrax scare. They may also be infectious. While no pandemic flu has yet reached the severity of the 1918 flu, there have been several scares, including avian flu and most recently H1N1. Few questions are more ethically or legally loaded than determining who will receive scarce medical resources in the event of a widespread public health …

Interacting With Others: A Major Life Activity Under The Americans With Disabilities Act?, Wendy Hensel

Wendy F. Hensel

No abstract provided.