Because of some added complexity related to what this disability is “called” and how it is “defined,” there is a bit more information on this page than there is for other conditions.When you looked at the list of disabilities covered by the Individual with Disabilities Education Act, you noticed that term intellectual disability is not there. However, the term mental retardation does appear. Obviously, the term of “retardation” comes with a lot of baggage. For years people with this disability, their parents, their friends, and others have been encouraging the field of special education to stop using the term retardation and come up with a better term to describe this condition. The American Association on Retardation (AAMR) (www.aamr.org) is the oldest professional organization in the field of mental retardation and for over 100 years has taken responsibility for defining this condition. In May of 2002, AAMR began actively moving to remove the term mental retardation from its name and replace it with the term intellectual disability. In making this move, the association pointed out that legally the term mental retardation is still required for programs such as special education. This means that the term mental retardation will be around for a number of years but the field is gradually beginning to abandon this awful term. In beginning this move away from the term "mental retardation”, the organization urges its members to begin to use the term intellectual disability. That is why we are using the term here, however, in the rest of the material on this page, we will discuss mental retardation. Perhaps more than any other category in special education the label of "mental retardation" is seen as a curse, not a diagnosis. There is much mythology, misinformation, and outright prejudice associated with mental retardation. The field of special education and the individuals who have this condition will be well served when "mental retardation" is finally laid to rest. In the meantime, we want to be sure you have accurate knowledge of what a diagnosis of mental retardation means and does not mean. The NICHCY fact sheet on mental retardation provides an easy to read overview of this label. Please carefully reading this document at http://www.nichcy.org/pubs/factshe/fs8txt.htm. It
is interesting that at the same time that it was preparing to change
it name and was urging people to start using a different term, AAMR
issued a new revised definition of mental retardation. Perhaps nothing
better captures the ambiguity in the field than this two contradictory
actions taking place at the same time. This contradiction notwithstanding,
the AAMR fact sheet on
the 2002 definition of a retardation nicely supplements the NICHCY
fact sheet by bringing you up-to-date on thinking behind the current
way of describe this condition. Please review this document at http://www.aamr.org/Policies/mental_retardation.shtml
The
ARC (formerly Association for Retarded Citizens of the After having reviewed the basic material on the definition of mental retardation, you should appreciate that it is a very broad category. It encompasses people with relatively mild disabilities to people with very severe disabilities. You should also understand that it is not a single condition but as the definition says, it is a limitation in intellectual functioning accompanied by problems in daily living, and it is caused by a wide variety of conditions. With all the talk of intellectual functioning, adaptive behavior, conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills, IQ scores, and systems of support, it may be easy to lose sight of the basics of the definition of mental retardation. At its most basic definition, mental retardation means that a person has difficulty learning, and this difficulty worsens as the material becomes increasingly abstract. It also means that the limitations in learning ability interfere with a person's ability to function independently in society. To put it another way, if person can get by day-to-day without difficulty, his IQ score does not matter.
As you go on to explore other conditions explained here, this is an important point to consider. Most of you taking this peer tutoring course are working with peers who have been labeled as having a Functional Mental Disability (FMD) in Kentucky schools. That means, as far as the school system is concerned, all of these students have at least moderate to severe mental retardation. As you may know already, and will certainly know when you complete this unit, many of these students have other conditions such as autism, cerebral palsy, sensory impairments, and others that affect their ability to do many things. You have learned that the results on an IQ test are still an important part of the diagnosis of mental retardation. So now, consider the following.
So what does an intelligence test measure? These tests are fairly accurate in predicting how well a person will do in school. The question you are left to ponder is whether this type of test should have the power of a potentially life-changing result such as, “You child is mental retarded.” Here are some additional links about intellectual disability/mental retardation that you may find useful in completing your notebook entries § Children with Mental Retardation – Facts for Families was developed and distributed by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). It can be found at http://www.aacap.org/publications/factsfam/retarded.htm
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