[Vision2020] RE: wake up call

Sun Feb 20 06:24:23 PST 2005

Tami,

I think we are just miscommunication in the use of the word. I think what 
your instructor was attempting to convey to the class, as they do in all of 
mine, is to put the person first, or not define a person by their 
disability. We would not call people that could not hear "Deaf People". We 
would say, "persons who are deaf".

Same occurs with mental retardation. The term is proper or not proper 
depending on how it is used. It is proper if used as a medical term or 
describing one characteristic about someone. It is improper if defining a 
person. Nobody wants to be defined by their disability, we are all so much 
more.

Take Care,

Donovan J Arnold

PS, Tami, Do you know ASL?

>From: Tami Stinebaugh <stin1624 at uidaho.edu>
>To: Donovan Arnold <donovanarnold at hotmail.com>
>CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] RE: wake up call
>Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 10:16:31 -0800
>
>Hi Donovan,
>
>Thanks for your clarification.  I have only taken a few special ed courses 
>recently, and do not have a substantial background in the area (besides my 
>own personal experiences with my son who has a hearing impairment).  
>However, I am certain that the class that I took told us we should not use 
>the term "mentally retarded" any longer.  Whether or not the instructor was 
>correct or incorrect, I cannot say.  Maybe it is a fairly new move that 
>takes us away from the term "retarded" which is more and more often used in 
>a derogatory way?  I don't know.  I understand what you are saying about 
>cognitive impairment being a more general term.  That makes sense to me.  I 
>just can tell you what I was taught at the last class.  It was a grad 
>student teaching the course, maybe he was confused, but that was the 
>information he delivered, and I assumed he knew what he was talking about.  
>Any way, I never said I was offended by the term you used, I just offered 
>up what I have heard about it rec
>ently.  Take it or leave it, it makes no difference to me!
>
>Tami Stinebaugh (who is very well aware that Vision 2020 is THE most 
>politically correct forum out there, RIGHT????? wink, wink...)
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Donovan Arnold <donovanarnold at hotmail.com>
>Date: Saturday, February 19, 2005 0:35 am
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] RE: wake up call
>
> > Tami,
> >
> > Sorry you are  confused. Almost every professional journal on
> > disabilities
> > and State run site in the country uses the medical term "Mental
> > Retardation".
> >
> > Cognitively Impaired is a general term. If is like calling a
> > banana a fruit.
> > It is correct, but the person doesn't know if you are referring to
> > a banana
> > or an apple.
> >
> > Cognitively impaired does not mean the person has a low IQ. People
> > with
> > Autism all have cognitive impairments but range in IQ from 35 to
> > genius.
> > Same with people with traumatic head injury. They are cognitively
> > impaired.
> > In effect, everyone has some level of cognitive impairment, so you
> > cannot
> > use that term and communicate anything meaningful in the medical
> > sense.
> > If you use that term, medical professionals and support staff have
> > no idea
> > what the capabilities are of the individual and thus will not know
> > what
> > services they may need.  Mental retardation is a medical term used
> > to
> > describe someone who has a low IQ, usually below 70 on the WISC.
> > If you were
> > to read many medical records and IEPs you would find the terms
> > "severely
> > mentally retarded", "Mentally Retarded", "Mildly Retard" and
> > "Profoundly
> > Mentally Retarded" in about 2-3% of the population. This is legal
> > documentation used by doctors, both medical and psychology.
> > Perhaps you are
> > confused with the derogatory term "retard". This is a term used to
> > hurt
> > people, bully a person, and I strongly disagree with this type of
> > behavior.
> > I am sorry you are offended by the term and relate it to those
> > that have
> > used a similar term for less than noble purposes.  Nobody should
> > ever call
> > any individual person retarded. People are not a term or a label.
> > But a
> > person can suffer from mental retardation and so doctors and
> > support staff
> > know how to help them when that term is recorded and they can read it.
> >
> > The top people in the field of special education also use the
> > term,
> > including Deborah Smith, PhD., from Vanderbilt University.
> >
> > Again, if you don't like the term, talk to the DSM-IV and all
> > these
> > professional journals that not only use the term, but often adopt
> > it as part
> > of their title. I only use the term because that is the proper
> > term to use
> > as I am taught in all of my classes and in the professional
> > articles I read.
> > I could use fruit when I mean banana, but you wouldn't know if I
> > meant
> > apple.
> >
> > I hope that makes sense to you, If not, talk to a medical doctor
> > or a
> > psychologist.
> >
> > Or click on one of these links:
> >
> > http://www.aamr.org/
> > http://consolidation.mhmr.state.tx.us/
> > 
>http://mass.gov/portal/index.jsp?pageID=eohhs2agencylanding&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Government&L2=Departments+and+Divisions&L3=Department+of+Mental+Retardation&sid=Eeohhs2
> > http://www.omr.state.ny.us/
> > http://www.dmhmrsas.state.va.us/
> > http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/jablonski/syndrome_title.html
> > http://aamr.allenpress.com/aamronline/?request=get-archive
> > http://www.dmr.state.ct.us/
> > http://odmrdd.state.oh.us/
> > 
>http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/birth_defect/mental_retardation.html
> > http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/sped/projects/ose/categories/mr.html
> > http://www.psychiatry.com/mr/
> > http://www.councilonmr.org/
> > http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic605.htm
> > 
>http://www.medem.com/medlb/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZ9YQTMBAC&sub_cat=543
> >
> > I can get you more, or any information on this subject you like.
> >
> > Take Care,
> >
> > Donovan J Arnold
> >
> >
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