Labeling exceptional children can be beneficial in that it can lead to differentiated treatment, give more insight into etiology and prevention, and call public attention to a specific problem; however, it can be used to preserve a social hierarchy by keeping minority group children from opportunities and delay needed social reform. (Author/IM)

This article uses a short story by Jack London to discuss the classification of individuals with mental retardation and argues that mental retardation and its various definitions are manifestations of the typological thinking that inevitably creates a simplistic and misleading aggregation of people with very diverse needs and characteristics.…

This article discusses a court case of an adolescent labeled retarded who was sexually assaulted. It examines implications of being spoken about and of others speaking for the labeled person. It then considers how a disability rights/People First framework could shift public and professional understandings and responses to human abuse. (Contains…