| |
Exploitation
Beware of
the Parent’s Trap
THE PHYSICIANS PRAYER
Supreme God in heaven –Before I begin my holy work to heal the human
beings whom Your hands formed I pour out my entreaty before Your throne of
glory, that You grant me the strength of spirit and great courage to do my
work faithfully, and that the ambitions to amass riches or goodness shall
not blind my eyes from seeing rightly. Give me the merit to regard every
suffering person who comes to ask my advice as a human being, without any
distinction between rich and poor, friend and foe, good person and bad.
When a person is in distress show me only the human being. If physicians
with greater understanding, give me the desire to learn from them, because
there is no limit to the learning of medicine. But when fools insult me, I
pray: Let my love of the profession strengthen my spirit without any
regard for the advanced age of the scorners and their prestige. Let the
truth alone be a lamp to my feet for every yielding in my profession can
lead to perdition or illness for a human being whom your hands formed. I
pray You, compassionate and gracious Lord, strengthen and fortify me in
body and soul, and implant an intact spirit within me.
From the writings of Rabbi Moshe ben
Maimon
Dr. Mark Rosenbloom the founder and
President of the Unicorn Children’s Foundation, at the November 1998 ICDL
Conference, gave a heart rendering plea for the end and prevention of the
exploitation of parents of children with communication and learning
disorders. Dr. Rosenbloom shared with the audience the Physician’s Prayer
that eloquently emphasizes the type of spirit and attitude, which parents
ought to be able to expect of the professionals who are involved in
working with their children.
What is exploitation?
Exploitation is the taking advantage
of parents who are vulnerable and willing to do whatever it takes to
“cure” their children who have developmental delays or special needs
What makes parents of children with
developmental disorders vulnerable to being exploited?
When parents are in shock and denial
about their child’s disorders and delays, they can lapse into magical and
fantasy thinking and seek a “cure” or “silver bullet” to make their
children “normal.” This makes them vulnerable to offers of help from
professionals who “claim” to have the “magical touch,” or “miracle cure”
to help make their children “better”, “cured,” or “healed.” These parents
are unfortunately often willing to “pay whatever it takes” to get the
“magical cure” to make all things right for their children.
What do vulnerable parents look
like?
Vulnerable parents engage in a number
of similar activities:
-
“Spend whatever it takes”
willingness to spend whatever it takes to get the “best” treatments,
doctors, therapists, programs, schools etc to “fix” or “cure” their
child
-
“Doctor shopping” looking for just
the right doctor, therapist, teacher, program which will make things
better for their child
-
“Blaming the doctor” and fighting
with the child’s treating professionals because the child is not
progressing at the rate which the parents had hoped the child would
progress given the “hope and promises” provided by the professional or
program
-
“Doctor buying” offering
professionals, with “good reputations,” sums of money, goods, services
etc which will entice the professional to get involved with their child
-
“Shooting the doctor” which is
walking away from the “messenger bearing” professionals who give the
“bad news” concerning the developmental disorder because it is “too
much” to emotionally absorb and seeking out professionals who will have
more “positive” or “optimistic news” to give them about their child
-
Guilt Induced Hyper-activity getting
so absorbed in the “treatment” of their child that they have little or
no personal time, for fear that their child will not progress or regress
if they do not dedicate themselves 150% to the curing and healing of
their child.
What does exploitation look like?
Parents who are being exploited often
experience one or more of the following behaviors from the professionals
who are treating their children
Dual Relationship with Parents:
Professionals are in many states
legally and in all cases ethically not supposed to personally benefit
financially or business wise from involvement with the parents of children
who are or have been under their professional care. A sample state statute
for Licensed Psychologists in Florida states: 64B19-17.002(y) Exercising
influence on the patient or client for the purpose of financial gain of
the licensee or a third party. The usual recommended penalty shall be
suspension or revocation (of license) and a fine. This involves:
-
Parents giving money, over and above
the professional fees being charged to provide the services to the
child, directly to the professional or indirectly by paying a third
party associate of the professional. This third party could either be
related to or involved in a business dealings with the professional.
-
Parents lending money to the
professional or a professional’s associate
-
Parents entering into a business
relationship or partnership with a professional or a professional’s
associate, such as buying a house or car from the professional, opening
a new company or business with the professional
-
Parents giving professional services
to the professional or the professional’s associate over and above the
normal and customary fees
-
Parents providing a forum by which
the professional or the professional’s associate can benefit in
professional, social, reputation and community stature
“The Golden Bullet Promises”:
This means that the professional
presents parents with false, deceptive, or misleading advertising and
promises that their specialized treatment is the “Key” to a cure for their
children. In many states this is illegal and in all cases it is unethical.
A sample state statute for Licensed Psychologists in Florida states:
64B19-17.002(d) False, deceptive, or misleading advertising or obtaining a
fee or other thing of value upon the licensee’s representation that
beneficial results from any treatment will be guaranteed. The usual
recommended penalty shall be a public reprimand, an administrative fine of
$1,000 and probation with such term and conditions set by the Board.
“Inordinate Lifestyle Change”: This means that parents making radical
changes in their current family life so that child can receive the
services of the professional. This involves:
-
Family being uprooted and moved into
a new community in which the “desired” professional or program is
located
-
Family taking on second mortgages or
taking loans out so as to afford the services of the “desired”
professional or program
-
Both parents going back to work to
afford to pay for the services of “desired” professional or program
-
Family completely disrupting their
normal family cycle or routine to meet the inordinate number of hours of
intervention dictated by the “desired” professional or program
“Guilt Letting of Parents”:
This means the professional plays on
the guilt of the parents to manipulate the parent to go to “extraordinary
efforts” to “fix” their child. This is illegal in some states and is
unethical in all cases. It involves inappropriate representation of the
“power” of the treatment being offered the child. This involves:
-
Making the parents think and feel
that no matter what they do for their child is “never good enough,”
“done well enough,” or “sophisticated enough” to “fix” the child
-
Letting parents know that they can
never spend “too much money,” “too much time,” or “too many personal or
physical resources” on their child in order to “fix” the child
-
Convincing the parents that only
this one particular professional or program is “right” of their child
and that they would be doing irreparable harm to their child if they
changed professional or program for their child
“Blaming the Parents”:
This means the professional blames the
parents, if the child is not making substantial developmental progress.
The professional does not appropriately inform the parent that each child
is different (principle of individual differences) and that there is no
predictable pattern to expect in the progress a child will make as a
result of being involved in the therapeutic process. This involves:
-
Embarrassing and humiliating parents
verbally and non-verbally by blaming them for the fact that their child
is not progressing or changing quick enough or substantially enough. The
message given in this case is that “of course, it is not the fault of
treatment offered by the professional” but rather the lack of extensive
follow through on the part of the parent that explains the lack of
progress. REALITY is - due to individual differences, the child is not
be progressing. This might be due to being on a developmental plateau or
because the prescribed treatment does not work with this child like it
does with others.
“Gauging the Parents”:
This means the professional charges
exorbitant fees for services and treatments. These fees are typically not
customary or ordinary in the professional’s respective professional field.
This involves:
What do you do, if you think you
are being exploited?
If you feel you are being exploited by
any of the professionals involved in working with your child
-
First: confront the professional and
ask for such exploitation to cease
-
Second: if the professional
continues to be exploitive then contact the professional’s respective
professional association or state licensing or certifying board and file
a complaint.
Principles of Ethics for Medical,
Therapeutic and Developmental Specialists Who Work with Children with
Special Needs
Professionals serving children with
communications and learning disorders will:
-
Embrace the children’s welfare as
their primary professional responsibility
-
Respond promptly and expertly,
without prejudice or partiality to the needs of these children and their
families
-
Respect the rights and strive to
protect the best interest of these children whose parents are vulnerable
due to their emotional state of shock, loss, and grief and as such often
have a diminished decision making capacity and thus are impeded in
making appropriate treatment choices.
-
Communicate truthfully with parents
and secure their informed consent for treatment.
-
Protect families’ privacy and
disclose confidential information only with consent of the parents when
required by an overriding duty to protect others or to obey the law.
-
Deal fairly and honestly with
colleagues and take appropriate action to protect these children and
their families from health care and developmental interventionists who
are impaired, incompetent, or who engage in fraud or deception.
-
Work cooperatively with others who
care for these children and their families and also advocate on behalf
of these children and their parents with any third party payor
(insurance company, HMO, state agency, or school system) to insure that
all appropriate and needed therapies, treatments, and programming are
provided and reimbursed.
-
Engage in continuing study to
maintain the knowledge and skills necessary to provide high quality care
for children with communication and learning disorders and their
families.
-
E Act as responsible
stewards of the health and developmental care resources entrusted to
them.
- Support societal
efforts to improve public health and safety, reduce the effects of
developmental communication and learning disorders, and secure access to
appropriate early intervention and other treatment services for children
with communications and learning disorders no matter how severe or minor
their disorders may be.
|
