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The Arc of Texas and Advocacy, Inc. have filed a lawsuit against the state in an effort to stimulate the development of Medicaid Waiver services for more than 20,000 Texans with mental retardation or other developmental disabilities who are on waiting lists for waiver services. Click Here for Q&A on the lawsuit.
Click here for
The Arc's Position Statements
For several years now, many disability organizations have been struggling to find the "right" words to identify the population formerly referred to as "mentally retarded" and "slow learners". Just what those "right" words are depends on a combination of current perception and on fact. Herein lies the conflict. The term "mental retardation", which is often misunderstood, is used by the medical community and by federal and state government to describe general learning disabilities and life skills delays which occur prior to adulthood and are caused by any number of conditions including genetic disorders, brain injury at or prior to birth, childhood brain trauma, or other factors. However, many find this term undesirable at best. While our consumer base is broader than medical and legal definitions reflect, these terms are the primary reasons The Arc has retained "mental retardation" in our tag line and in our mission statement. Yet its offensiveness drives many potential consumers and families away from the assistance we might offer. In an attempt to make headway with this language problem, we followed the lead of The Arc of the United States five years ago and changed our name from The Association for Retarded Citizens to The Arc of Dallas. We hoped that the result would be a general realization that we respond to the needs of people with varying types of developmental disabilities. In the end, our name change has mostly brought confusion. The primary reason the term "mental retardation" seems to be offensive is its slang usage when either labeling, provoking or putting down people. Our consumers recount story after story of being called "retard" among other things. Suzanne Huse explains, "Those words are like a gunshot to the heart they hurt so much. It feels like a put down, like a rejection, like they're saying I'm not even meant to be." In an effort to encourage sensitivity, the disability community has long promoted "people first language" rather than "labeling language". While the trend has grown within this community, the general public, and the media, seem to ignore our most valiant efforts to enlighten. Even still, the term "people with mental retardation" makes many parents and consumers turn away thinking it doesn't apply to them. So what are our alternatives? We could list each condition by name, but that would be cumbersome as well as segregating. We could use the media's terms like "mentally challenged", "cognitively disabled", or "mentally disabled", but all of these terms could also imply mental illness or disabilities that occur during adulthood. AAMR has recently adopted the term "intellectually disabled" in their mission statement. Of course, acceptance of terminology changes with time. Our primary concerns are that (1) we don't offend the population we serve, and (2) we give a clear understanding of who that population is. As a result, we're in a quandary, so we're asking for your input. What terminology do YOU prefer? e-mail us at info@arcdallas.org or give us feedback. Hate Crimes
and Disabilities
"Personally, I think Mike Wulf's last comment says it all...."delayed learning ability". It implies there is a hiccup and the person may require something more than usual, but that learning can (and does) occur. An added benefit, it may be too cumbersome to be shortened on the playground by school children who want to insult a classmate". —–Kelly Theriault "I too find myself looking for the current ‘term’ that properly enables me to speak correctly and not appear offensive or give someone the wrong impression such as being insensitive. I have a sister who was born with "Downs" and suffers mild retardation. While I am 35 years old, I, unfortunately, remember as a child several words often used to describe my sister and her disability and now cringe when I hear someone use one of those outdated terms. So while I’m not 100% sure what the proper term is today...I think the one I prefer to hear is ‘mentally challenged.’ To me there is no ‘negative’ connotation associated with either of those words. Unlike some of the others with the word ‘disabled’ attached. ‘Intellectually disabled’ is NOT a very good choice to me...it sounds a little absurd actually. It almost says...somebody else was thinking a little too hard to come up with that term! … Thank you for asking." —– Tim Fortenberry "I personally use: This is Charlotte...my daughter. When speaking of others and am forced to say something...I try to say, ‘This is George. He is labeled with ...whatever the disability label is...He really has always been George and never was the label.’ The label simply puts people in a category which creates an image based on what our society has promoted that label to look like. It is meaningless. Organizationally it is a much bigger problem. If you solve this one, you deserve a Noble Prize. Good luck to all you and others in Dallas (and with what you) are doing for people with cognitive labels".—–Jeff Garrison-Tate Ken Adams called to say that the term "retardation" is not at all endearing and that "disabled" makes him think of a car that won’t run or something that doesn’t work at all. He went on to say that he likes "mentally challenged" or "learning challenged" because "challenged" implies the capacity to improve. Ken has a grandson with Down syndrome. Mike Wulf, Special Education Transition Specialist with Garland ISD suggests, "The Arc of Dallas services ‘individuals’ with varying levels of delay in specific learning ‘abilities.’ "In my experience in the service area of disabilities, I find that the discomfort and offensiveness of terminology doesn’t come from the actual disABLED population. However, in response to your article, I feel that the phrase, ‘individuals with special needs’ has a nonoffensive ‘ring’ to it. Of course, this is my opinion, and I also feel that using a variety of different terms tends to assist avoiding stereotypes….I wish more people would look at the ‘big picture’ and that this is helping those in need, whoever that may be. Disabled or not, we all need to overcome petty disagreements and show love to our fellow man." —– David M. Smith
Do you think convicted offenders with mental retardation should be eligible for the death penalty? Email your opinion, "yes" or "no" with any additional comments, and we'll post it to our site.
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