Attitudes Toward Counseling
The general public lack adequate knowledge of screening and diagnostic tests and their consequences. The plethora of information available can be overwhelming and counselors spend a large proportion of time clarifying details. Prenatal screening was first introduced nearly four decades ago, yet gaps still exist in public knowledge about the screening program. The general public is familiar with Down syndrome (trisomy 21), but is not aware of more uncommon conditions such as trisomy 18 (historically known as Edwards syndrome) and trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome). Clients are usually aware of diagnostic testing from friends, TV/press, or because of family history.
No simple correlation has been found between the change in technology to the changes in values and beliefs towards genetic testing. Some think that genetic testing is a great advance while others think it will cause trouble.
Read more about this topic: Genetic Counseling
Famous quotes containing the words attitudes toward and/or attitudes:
“The mother’s and father’s attitudes toward the child correspond to the child’s own needs.... Mother has the function of making him secure in life, father has the function of teaching him, guiding him to cope with those problems with which the particular society the child has been born into confronts him.”
—Erich Fromm (1900–1980)
“Rarely do American parents deliberately teach their children to hate members of another racial, religious, or nationality group. Many parents, however, communicate the prevailing racial attitudes to their children in subtle and sometimes unconscious ways.”
—Kenneth MacKenzie Clark (20th century)