Identified relative meanings among professionals of three clinical lables for children--mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, and juvenile delinquent. Regular classroom teachers and mental health workers responded on two questionnaires designed to measure their reactions to these labels. The labels conveyed clearly different relative meanings,…

Effects of the labels "mentally retarded" and "retarded" on 136 fifth- and sixth-grade children's attitudes toward peers were studied. Results indicated that children's attitudes were more positive toward the target child labeled "mentally retarded" than labeled "retarded." Reactions to the two labels were, in part, a function of the physical…

Set forth are objections to three current practices in the education of the mentally retarded. (CL)

The similarities and differences of educable mentally retarded and learning disabled school children are considered, and issues involving the labeling and use of drugs with such children are explored. (SBH)

Twenty graduate students and 20 mothers randomly chosen from a university community were asked to rate retarded and nonretarded children (1-5 years old) on characteristics reflecting social competence and interpersonal attractiveness and also on a social distance scale. (Author)

A survey of state mental retardation/developmental disabilities agencies found that while most employ a classification system that is compatible with or derived from that of the American Association on Mental Deficiency (AAMD), only 22 are actually using the 1983 edition of the AAMD alone or with another system. (Author/VW)

The author reviews approximately 28 recent court cases which focus on protection of students mislabeled mentally retarded and which inadvertently may have discriminated against mentally retarded students. (MC)

A multidimensional model of mental retardation is proposed, based on medical, behavioral, and social dimensions. The model's theoretical underpinning emphasizes that an individual might be retarded in one or a combination of senses. The model introduces a conception of socially constructed retardation and suggests methods for operationalizing and…

This article discusses using the term "general learning disorder" instead of "mental retardation." It addresses the offensiveness of the current label, discusses ingredients needed in a more appropriate diagnostic term, and offers a proposed grouping of developmental disabilities based on cognitive ability, language ability, physical ability, and…

Presented is a sociological perspective on the labeling of children as mentally retarded which lists seven classifications of deviance, defines labeling as society's attachment of a deviant name to some action or attribute of an individual, and distinguishes between primary deviation (deviation that is not specifically labeled) and secondary…

Effects of the label "mentally retarded" on attitudes of peers were examined among 48 third grade pupils. Half of the Ss were shown a videotape of an actor displaying acting out behavior, while the remaining Ss were shown a videotape with the same actor engaging in passive behavior. Half of the Ss in each group were told that the actor was a…

Examined were the effects of the mental retardation label on the attitudes of 150 normal seventh- and eighth-grade Ss having previous contact with educable mentally retarded, trainable mentally retarded, or no contact. (Author/IM)

Analysis of a sample of 84 speech acts in everyday discourse referring to mental retardation identified four themes: (1) the discourse of category membership, (2) the dichotomy of normal and abnormal, (3) issues of place and space, and (4) fear. Results suggest how speech acts construct mental retardation and devalue individuals with the label.…

This commentary on a previous article that described the use of topological thinking in the field of mental retardation discusses appropriate scientific uses of typologies, what categories are and how they are used in social and biomedical sciences, and the importance of typologies for scientific and practical progress. (Contains extensive…