Difference and obligations.

SUPPOSE you were pregnant and the doctors told you that some tests were showing that your child had certain chromosome configurations that would likely result in significant differences in your child as compared to other children. Would you continue with the pregnancy? Or would it depend on the degree of challenge the child would be likely to face - the quality of life, the extent of support available to her, and your own wealth level? What is the role of the state?

This is not a hypothetical situation. Many parents are confronted with similar questions. Or they 'choose' not to have tests done, when pregnant, to not know if a deviation is to be expected. These are not easy questions to answer and I am not, in this short article, going to attempt to answer them. But I do want to point out a few things that are pertinent to the situation in Pakistan. Something we confront every day.

I am currently researching the area of disability and education. More precisely, with colleagues, I am trying to study the...