Terminally Ill Children and Treatment Choices: a Reply to Gareth Matthews.

Gareth Matthews' paper [5] is a penetrating discussion of two closely related topics. In the first part of the paper, he offers a description and analysis of what he has called the "Standard Developmental Account" of children's conceptions of death. In the second part of the paper he focuses on an in-depth study of terminally ill children and compares its findings with the Standard Developmental Account. My commentary will explore the implications Matthews draws from these studies for the questions of whether and how to inform seriously ill children about their disease and help them participate in decisions about its treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]