•Heidi’s interest in Disability and Ethics is personal as well as professional. As someone who has what are generally considered “severe” disabilities, she often finds herself concerned and troubled by the tendency among much of the general public to automatically assume that having “severe” disabilities means having a drastically reduced “quality of life.” Such an assumption often leads to a belief that people with “severe” disabilities are constantly suffering in ways that are generally associated with end-of-life. This line of thought often leads people to draw the conclusion that a person with severe disabilities are better off dead than suffering from/with their disabilities.

•

•A central focus of Heidi’s work in disability ethics and end-of-life issues affecting people with disabilities is therefore to seek to identify and analyze the commonly-held social values that often lead to the devaluation of the lives of people with disabilities. Heidi often conducts and/or transmits this social-ethical analysis through the medium of drama. Her 2001 Fringe play, Returned to Sender, examined the lives of two teenaged girls disabled by severe forms of Cerebral Palsy and living in a post-Tracy-Latimer society. In a more analytical vein, her 2006 play, Voices at Dying, Dying to be Heard, offers viewers a unique insight into some of the areas of contention and opportunities for alliance-building that currently exist between the palliative care community and the disability community when it comes to end-of-life issues affecting people with disabilities. The use of drama to engage and educate people around disability ethics and end-of-life issues affecting people with disabilities continues to be one of the primary focuses of Heidi’s work.