Posted on 05/09/2007 10:12:04 AM PDT by Graybeard58
Old-fashioned terms such as imbecile, lunatic and idiot were purged Tuesday from the Ohio law books, a harbinger of national momentum to once again revisit the words that most sensitively describe mental illness.
In the last century, idiotic and feeble-minded were accepted labels. Later, "mental deficiency" was deemed to be more respectful. More recently, "mental retardation" replaced that as less derisive. Today, the phrase is increasingly seen as unacceptable. It is a sentiment felt around the nation.
In March, hundreds of disabled adults, their advocates and caretakers in Alabama rallied at the Statehouse in Montgomery to urge legislators to remove the word retarded from state code.
In April, Connecticut's House of Representatives voted unanimously to scrap the name of the state Department of Mental Retardation, and replace it with the Department of Developmental Services. The state Senate has yet to act on the bill.
Amid the concern, the former American Association of Mental Retardation -- which changed its own name in January -- is making preparations to revise the definition of mental retardation for the 11th time since 1908.
"The self advocacy community really hates the word retarded, and they've been very vocal about that," said Doreen Crozer, executive director of what is now known as the American Association of Intellectual and Development Disabilities.
The Ohio bill, which Strickland was scheduled to sign later Tuesday, was prompted by a chance encounter with the old lingo by Ohio Advocates for Mental Health while they were doing legal research. The resulting legislation cleared both the House and Senate unanimously.
Removing the terms from the Ohio Revised Code won't completely resolve the problem, however. Both "idiots" and "insane persons" are banned from voting in the Ohio Constitution, first written in 1802, and changing that document would require a constitutional amendment.
A saucer short of a place setting.........
I know quite a few lawyers who are imbeciles, lunatics and idiots.
Absolutely correct! However, the point is that in 10 years or so they get to do the "feel-good" thing all over again and thus make everybody "special".......
The wheel’s spinning, but the hamster’s missing.
A few panties short of a trousseau.
A electron short of an ion........
Democrats? Why repeat yourself?
But this is a perfect example of the attempt to address a problem by relabeling it. One can define mental deficiency out of existence but that doesn't actually place it out of existence. As Lincoln pointed out, calling a dog's tail a leg doesn't make it one. Such terminology changes serve no purpose toward their referents, but they do serve the purpose of empowering their PC proponents to correct the speech, and so they hope, the thought of others.
"Mental retardation became a more sophisticated way of saying idiot and moron," said Jan Nisbet, director of the UNH Institute on Disability. "Because of the stigma associated with it, we began to culturally use those words to degrade people. We began to call people 'retards.' "
Terms like this matter, she said, because they're often linked to government-subsidized services. "If there was no funding tied to it, it might just be easier to say people have diverse learning abilities," she said. "Then people say, 'Well, who's going to get the funding?' "
snip
To get their attention!........Attention Deficit Disorder, don’tcha know......
How about replacing them all with Dee dee dee?
I RESEMBLE THAT REMARK!........
That's so gay!
.... Both “idiots” and “insane persons” are banned from voting in the Ohio Constitution, first written in 1802, and changing that document would require a constitutional amendment....Democrats can’t vote in Ohio? What a shame.
This is the age of the acronym. The only talk PC is with acronyms. It’s called MR.
another wonderful liberal initiative: change the words, rather than address the problem!
what you name an issue becomes more important than how you deal with it.
“stupid is as stupid does”—the lesson from Forrest Gump
“stupid does as stupid is”—slogan, Democratic-controlled Congress, 2007
seems as if we deperately need some sort of coup to remove these parsifying, historically challenged from office.
In the mean time—it’s lock and load!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.