Since 1846 there has been an evolution of stigmatizing names, such as moron or imbecile, to describe intellectual disability. In 1895 the term retarded was introduced to replace these stigmatizing terms, however, in the 1960’s the term became derogatory and used to insult someone. Thus in 2010 President Obama signed Rosa’s Law, legislation requiring the Federal Government to replace mental retardation (MR) with intellectual disability (ID) in federal records. In 2013 the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders adopted the term intellectual disability to replace the older term mental retardation.
To learn more check out the following:
Rosa’s Law: Intellectual Disability Terminology Changes
History of Stigmatizing Names for Intellectual Disabilities
Read other New Terms posts.
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