At 6:58 PM -0500 1/26/06, Christopher D. Green wrote:
Jean-Marc,
I think that the phrase "mentally retarded" has been replaced by other euphemisms in recent years (e.g., "developmentally delayed"), especially in communitites of individuals who view themselves as "advocates" for such individuals. Note, however, that "retarded" was itself a euphemism when it was introduced. All euphemisms like this begin to lose their appeal when the general public begins to see through them and they then re-acquire all the negative connotations they were originally supposed to evade -- about once per generation. This is a never-ending cycle. You may wish to use the term your student has suggested simply to avoid pointless controversy. Or, you may decide to use some "official" term (such as that in the DSM) and explain to the student, and class (since she made it a public isssue), that you are using it as a technical term (to avoid confusion with other superficially similar conditions).
It's interesting that 'retarded'
simply means slowed down (one may end up at the same destination)
where as 'disabled' implies a more permanent deficit!
--
The best argument against
Intelligent Design is that people believe in it.
* PAUL K.
BRANDON
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* Psychology Department 507-389-6217 *
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* Psychology Department 507-389-6217 *
* 23 Armstrong Hall Minnesota State University, Mankato *
* http://www.mnsu.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html *
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