[Vision2020] RE: wake up call

[Donovan Arnold]

Mr. Hansen,

Most people at least attempt to conceal their ignorance. I see that you like 
to boast it publicly.

You write," For somebody to resort to the use of such a term (mental 
retardation) would reflect an extreme lack of maturity on their part, right 
Mr. Arnold?"

Mr. Hansen, are you calling the millions of doctors, health care 
professionals, service care provides, and teachers in this country immature?

Wow! So nice of you to proclaim this Mr. Hansen. Here I thought that writing 
down the terms "mild mental retardation", "moderate mental retardation", 
"severe mental retardation", and "profound mental retardation" in medical, 
educational, and service providing documentation was the mature thing to do 
considering that persons with an IQ under 70 would not get the medical, 
educational, and personal services they need to survive.

Mr. Hansen, your ignorance is apparent in not understanding the difference 
between calling someone by their disability and calling them by their name 
and using a medical term to ensure that they receive proper treatment.

Nobody is mentally retarded Mr.Hansen. Nobody is Handicapped. Nobody is an 
amputee. People are who they are, not their disability.  But people do have 
autism, people do have amputations and people do suffer from mental 
retardation and those that help people with disabilities use language and 
terms referring to that individual so they can provide them with services 
that they need.

I will make this so clear that even you can understand it Mr. Hansen.

Correct use: Sue has an IQ on the WISC of 68 and is mildly retarded.
Incorrect use:  The mentally retarded girl is named Suzy

Correct Use: Mark, who had his leg amputated after a war wound, sat on the 
red chair.
Incorrect Use: The amputee, named Mark who lost his leg in the war, sat on 
the red chair.

Correct: Jeff, who has been blind from birth, felt his way around the 
unfamiliar desk to find a pen.
Incorrect: The blind guy named Jeff felt around the unfamiliar desk to find 
a pen.

See the difference?? The difference is that it is the person first, then the 
disability or affliction. NEVER define an individual by their disability. 
That is what is offensive, not the word. Blind, amputation, Autism, deaf, 
and mental retardation, are not offensive unless used to define the person 
instead as one feature about the person.

This is what is different from now and the 1980's and before. The words did 
not change. People have this confused with words regarding ethnic 
minorities, in which the words have been changed.

If someone wishes to do a HUGE amount of damage to people that are inflicted 
with disabilities, the best way to do it would be to prevent people in the 
field from using terms and labels to communicate with each other about a 
disability. Using vague terms like "mental disability" is not sufficient 
information to assist a care provider as to the needs of the person anymore 
then "they got a broken bone" is effective in telling a doctor what they 
need to know to help that person.

But again, you don't have to take my word for it. Talk to any psychologist 
or medical doctor in the field of helping those with mental disabilities and 
they will tell you the same thing.

As people that know me and my family, I have an aunt, who has mental 
retardation. When I was growing up as a small boy I use to play records and 
put together puzzles with her. She is a great joy in our lives and everybody 
that knows her loves her. I would like to encourage anyone interested in 
this subject to learn more about it.  I hope you don't condemn me, my 
family, and other professionals charged with her care for using the term 
"mental retardation" in her medical records to ensure that she gets all of 
the medical and social services she needs and deserves for a good quality of 
  life, as Mr. Hansen does without understanding the situation. Here are 
some good links:

http://www.nichcy.org/pubs/factshe/fs8txt.htm
http://www.mrrc.npi.ucla.edu/mrrc/page1.html


Take Care,

Donovan J Arnold





>exist very nicely in the same box.
>-----Original Message-----
>From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
>On Behalf Of Tami Stinebaugh
>Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2005 10:17 AM
>To: Donovan Arnold
>Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] RE: wake up call
>
>Hi Donovan,
>
>Thanks for your clarification.  I have only taken a few special ed courses
>recently, and do not have a substantial background in the area (besides my
>own personal experiences with my son who has a hearing impairment).
>However, I am certain that the class that I took told us we should not use
>the term "mentally retarded" any longer.  Whether or not the instructor was
>correct or incorrect, I cannot say.  Maybe it is a fairly new move that
>takes us away from the term "retarded" which is more and more often used in
>a derogatory way?  I don't know.  I understand what you are saying about
>cognitive impairment being a more general term.  That makes sense to me.  I
>just can tell you what I was taught at the last class.  It was a grad
>student teaching the course, maybe he was confused, but that was the
>information he delivered, and I assumed he knew what he was talking about.
>Any way, I never said I was offended by the term you used, I just offered 
>up
>what I have heard about it rec
>ently.  Take it or leave it, it makes no difference to me!
>
>Tami Stinebaugh (who is very well aware that Vision 2020 is THE most
>politically correct forum out there, RIGHT????? wink, wink...)
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Donovan Arnold <donovanarnold at hotmail.com>
>Date: Saturday, February 19, 2005 0:35 am
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] RE: wake up call
>
> > Tami,
> >
> > Sorry you are  confused. Almost every professional journal on
> > disabilities
> > and State run site in the country uses the medical term "Mental
> > Retardation".
> >
> > Cognitively Impaired is a general term. If is like calling a
> > banana a fruit.
> > It is correct, but the person doesn't know if you are referring to
> > a banana
> > or an apple.
> >
> > Cognitively impaired does not mean the person has a low IQ. People
> > with
> > Autism all have cognitive impairments but range in IQ from 35 to
> > genius.
> > Same with people with traumatic head injury. They are cognitively
> > impaired.
> > In effect, everyone has some level of cognitive impairment, so you
> > cannot
> > use that term and communicate anything meaningful in the medical
> > sense.
> > If you use that term, medical professionals and support staff have
> > no idea
> > what the capabilities are of the individual and thus will not know
> > what
> > services they may need.  Mental retardation is a medical term used
> > to
> > describe someone who has a low IQ, usually below 70 on the WISC.
> > If you were
> > to read many medical records and IEPs you would find the terms
> > "severely
> > mentally retarded", "Mentally Retarded", "Mildly Retard" and
> > "Profoundly
> > Mentally Retarded" in about 2-3% of the population. This is legal
> > documentation used by doctors, both medical and psychology.
> > Perhaps you are
> > confused with the derogatory term "retard". This is a term used to
> > hurt
> > people, bully a person, and I strongly disagree with this type of
> > behavior.
> > I am sorry you are offended by the term and relate it to those
> > that have
> > used a similar term for less than noble purposes.  Nobody should
> > ever call
> > any individual person retarded. People are not a term or a label.
> > But a
> > person can suffer from mental retardation and so doctors and
> > support staff
> > know how to help them when that term is recorded and they can read it.
> >
> > The top people in the field of special education also use the
> > term,
> > including Deborah Smith, PhD., from Vanderbilt University.
> >
> > Again, if you don't like the term, talk to the DSM-IV and all
> > these
> > professional journals that not only use the term, but often adopt
> > it as part
> > of their title. I only use the term because that is the proper
> > term to use
> > as I am taught in all of my classes and in the professional
> > articles I read.
> > I could use fruit when I mean banana, but you wouldn't know if I
> > meant
> > apple.
> >
> > I hope that makes sense to you, If not, talk to a medical doctor
> > or a
> > psychologist.
> >
> > Or click on one of these links:
> >
> > http://www.aamr.org/
> > http://consolidation.mhmr.state.tx.us/
> >
>http://mass.gov/portal/index.jsp?pageID=eohhs2agencylanding&L=4&L0=Home&L1=G
>overnment&L2=Departments+and+Divisions&L3=Department+of+Mental+Retardation&s
>id=Eeohhs2
> > http://www.omr.state.ny.us/
> > http://www.dmhmrsas.state.va.us/
> > http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/jablonski/syndrome_title.html
> > http://aamr.allenpress.com/aamronline/?request=get-archive
> > http://www.dmr.state.ct.us/
> > http://odmrdd.state.oh.us/
> >
>http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/birth_defect/mental_retardation.ht
>ml
> > http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/sped/projects/ose/categories/mr.html
> > http://www.psychiatry.com/mr/
> > http://www.councilonmr.org/
> > http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic605.htm
> >
>http://www.medem.com/medlb/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZ9YQTMBAC&sub_c
>at=543
> >
> > I can get you more, or any information on this subject you like.
> >
> > Take Care,
> >
> > Donovan J Arnold
> >
> >
> > _____________________________________________________
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