Discusses uses of terms handicapped, disabled, and exceptional which are often used interchangeably to describe individuals eligible for special education services. Recommends the term exceptional because the other two can lead to negative attitudes toward individuals so labeled. (Author/ABL)

A personal account of family experiences, shows the usefulness of psychological labels to understand people. Summarizes Jung's psychological types and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which is based on Jungian types. Discusses the benefits and dangers of using labels. (KS)

This paper argues the need to examine the images and responses evoked by labels applied to children, the field of special education, and those who work in the field. The paper considers whether these labels or names move the field toward its collective goal of delivering quality services to children and their families. (JDD)

Kohl presents his version of the six national goals, stressing students' right to the elimination of child poverty, dignified full employment, and the chance to work toward a compassionate global economy. Corporations really want sheep, not inquisitive, well-qualified workers. Fighting poverty is more effective than labeling children…

Students do not need to be told that they are socially constituted so much as they need to experience, in concrete terms, what that means. In an era of identity politics, they need to experience the labels they choose (or the labels chosen for them) as no less problematic than they are inevitable. A means to this end is a classroom heuristic tried…

The article reviews the work of anthropologist R. Edgerton and his conception of sociocultural retardation. Edgerton's book, "The Cloak of Competence," which examines deinstitutionalization and stigma, is analyzed. A final section explores the meanings and causes of sociocultural retardation. (CL)

The author examines issues and implications of mislabeling low-income minority students and suggests that these students acquire socially induced learning disabilities. Examples are given of the potentially disastrous effects of such mislabeling, and the need is cited for increasing minority special education facility and improving students'…

Affective traits (persistence, independence, and self-concept) are examined according to their relationship to giftedness. The author then poses questions regarding the affective results of labeling students gifted and cites problems with matching students' learning styles with their environments. (CL)

Examines the phenomenon of adolescent delinquency from the point of view of the socialization process into delinquency. Theoretical explanations discussed are (1) the stage of adolescence as a factor in the individual's vulnerability to delinquency, (2) social labeling and an explanation of socialization into delinquency, and (3) other…

The column presents two articles, "Facing the Label" by J. Schulz and "Mainstreaming--A Different Approach" by J. Miltenberger. (SBH)

Insists that too many marginal students are wrongly classified and segregated from regular education programs. Special education classification programs have many problems, such as lack of validity and reliability, invidious causes, and inescapable isolation. Vast sums are spent without providing institutional benefits to children. Includes 17…

This reprint (from a 1961 article) and excerpt (from a 1977 paper) recommend definitions of various terms in the field of mental retardation, such as subaverage, organic retardation, and functional retardation and argue that incidence and prevalence estimates of mental retardation vary so remarkably and change so frequently to fit certain…

This commentary offers a rationale for reprinting an 1866 essay by J. L. H. Down (EC 610 641) in which Down's syndrome is delineated and a clinical description of "mongoloid idiocy" is provided. The article deplores the dehumanizing ideology that has changed its terms over the decades but has persisted in practices of marginalization and control.…

Examines physicians' emotional reactions to patients and reviews recent medical literature regarding role of those reactions in labeling of difficult patient. Conceptualizes labeling of patient as difficult as relationship problem between physician and patient. Examines implications for social worker efforts to humanize this relationship and…

States that whenever people interact, they use labels to interpret the actions of others within a social context. Reviews data gathered in a previous study as to perceptions of labeling by a black student in a white school. Discusses the use of "raceless" labels. Concludes that discussion is necessary to fully implement the ideas of…