What does it mean to be "oral"?

[deafdyke]

Actually the term "mentally retarded" is still very much in use today. A friend of mine works with kids who have autism and the teachers of the school refer to those with autism as "MR kids". My friend has also seen this in other schools. I guess by acronym-izing it, they think it becomes less offensive...?

Exactly. Hear Again, I was not using the term mentally retarded. I think your screen reader may have seen "MR" and interepreted that as mentally retarded. I know that mentally retarded is falling out of favor. I don't generally use it. In written communication I use MR, spoken I usually say cognitively delayed. It's not quite a slur...... the only reason why it's seen as a slur is b/c people used the term "retard" as an all purpose insult. Mentally retarded means mentally slow. Also, it's still listed in the DSM as an offical medical dx....mental retardation.

I've heard the term "special needs children." That doesn't bother me as much as "mentally retarded" does.

Yeah, but special needs can include virtually anything from learning disabilites to persistant vegatative state to mild CP etc etc.....

 

[Hear Again]

DD,

What does MR mean? My screen reads it aloud as "M" and "R."

 

[Hear Again]

I don't mind if special needs encompasses any disabilities. It isn't insulting like the term mentally retarded IMO.

 

[jillio]

I don't use cognitive disabilites...I use congnitive delays or needs. At where I work, we use "children with additional needs."

Right. I was using it as an all encompassing category, just like Mental Retardation used to be used as an all encompassing category. When it is broken down to the individual, we can get more specific, such as delay.

 

[deafannieboo]

Daredevel, I get accused of the same thing which is why people gave me a hard time whenever I misunderstood or didn't understand them.

AMEN!!!!! very aggrivating!