Mar. 27--In these politically correct times, words like "mental retardation" can wind up on the endangered list. In Missouri, it winds up on the Senate floor.
Two bills in the Missouri General Assembly seek to change the name of the state's Division of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. Senate Bill 756 and House Bill 1627 are asking to change the name to the "less offensive" Division of Developmental Disabilities.
However, there are two camps in the debate. One sees society as a whole defining "retardation" in negative terms and wants to change the name to reduce the stigma. The opposing side sees it as a government attempt to cut services to severe mentally impaired residents.
Garry Hammond, president and chief executive officer of Family Guidance Center for Behavioral Healthcare, said Missouri is only one of a handful of states that still use the term "mental retardation."
"What Missouri is doing is entirely consistent with national trends and is consistent with what family members would also like to see," he said. "But they also need to adequately fund services for individuals with developmental disabilities."
Bob Bax, director of public affairs for the Missouri Department of Mental Health, said the department supports the name change. Using the term retardation hinders the department efforts to reduce stigma.
"The one thing we want to clarify is that changing the name of the division does not change the mission of the division," he said.
"And using the term mental retardation and developmental disabilities is redundant," Mr. Bax added. "Mental retardation is one of a number of developmental disabilities."
But Bert Sterbenz, president of Missouri Voice of the Retarded, said names do make a difference when it comes to funding. He said lumping the severely mentally
retarded under the same banner as those with less serious mental conditions would limit their treatment options.
"This thing is posed as being a politically correct thing supposedly to keep people from getting their feelings hurt," Mr. Sterbenz said. "But the bills have very little to do with people's feelings. The dirty little secret is that the division can determine eligibility as they always have."
Mr. Sterbenz also sees it as a ploy by state government to privatize care.
"It will be much more easy to overlook the mentally retarded," he said.
Rich Taylor, a psychologist with the Center: A Samaritan Center, said he believed the name change was a good idea, especially since there is a stigma attached to the term "retardation." But he too expressed some concern that services to the severely mentally ill may be privatized as a result of a name change.
"There's certainly a lot of difference between severe and mild disabilities in terms of functioning ability," he said. "The more severely retarded need more intensive services."
Alonzo Weston can be reached
at alonzow@npgco.com.
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Last updated: 04/26/2008 - 08:46 AM