Abstract:
New-born screening programs for congenital disorders and chronic disease are expanding worldwide and children \"at risk\" are identified by nationwide tracking systems at the earliest possible stage. These practices are never neutral and raise important social and ethical questions. An emergent concern is that a reflexive professionalism should interrogate the ever earlier interference in children\'s lives. The Flemish community of Belgium was among the first to generalize the screening for hearing loss in young children and is an interesting case to study the public justification of early interventions for families with deaf children. This article uses a critical lens to study the archive of the government child healthcare organization in Flanders in order to uncover underlying constructions of childhood, deafness, and preventive health. We focus on two interrelated themes. The first is the notion of exclusion of the human factor through the mediation of technology. The second is the idea of deafness as endangering a healthy development, an impairment that can nevertheless be treated if detected early enough. It is argued that, since deafness cannot be viewed as a life-threatening condition, the public interest which is implicitly defended is not the rescue of deaf children rather the exclusion of otherness.
摘要:
针对先天性疾病和慢性疾病的新生儿筛查计划正在全球范围内扩大,“处于危险中”的儿童在最早的阶段由全国范围的跟踪系统识别。这些做法从来都不是中立的,并提出了重要的社会和道德问题。一个迫在眉睫的问题是,反身的专业精神应该质疑对儿童生活的干扰。比利时的佛兰德社区是最早对幼儿听力损失进行筛查的人之一,并且是研究对聋哑儿童家庭进行早期干预的公共理由的有趣案例。本文使用一个关键的视角来研究法兰德斯政府儿童保健组织的档案,以揭示童年的基本结构,耳聋,和预防性健康。我们关注两个相互关联的主题。首先是通过技术调解排除人为因素的概念。二是认为耳聋危害健康发展,如果足够早发现,仍然可以治疗的损害。有人认为,由于耳聋不能被视为危及生命的疾病,隐含捍卫的公共利益不是拯救聋哑儿童,而是排斥他人。