For Starters, a Terminology Note:
The term "Mental Retardation" (MR) is going out of favor as it has been judged to have acquired a negative and prejudicial meaning. It will likely be replaced with something along the lines of "Intellectually Disabled" or "Intellectual Disabilities" in the near future if that substitution has not (informally) happened already. This shedding of terms to describe the underlying phenomena associated with MR has happened before, and in all likelihood will probably one day happen again. No matter what the phenomena is called, some cruel people inevitably seem to find whatever terms are used to describe the phenomena useful as insults and taunts. We want to acknowledge the ongoing shift in the favored terms used to describe MR upfront. However, as our discussion is intimately linked with terms formally defined in the DSM (e.g., Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, currently in the 4th text-revised edition), our plan is to continue to use the term Mental Retardation until such time as the term changes with the publication of the upcoming DSM-V (5). At this time, Mental Retardation remains the formal and proper diagnostic term.
Nature of Mental Retardat...Continue Reading This Article
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