DADvocate

Maybe this explains why Democrats have difficulty carrying Ohio in presidential electins: Both "idiots" and "insane persons" are banned from voting in the Ohio Constitution,.

The article is actually about "Old mental illness terms being purged."

In the last century, "idiotic" and "feeble-minded" were accepted labels. Later, "mental deficiency" was deemed to be more respectful. More recently, "mental retardation" replaced that as less derisive. Today, that phrase is increasingly seen as unacceptable.

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In March, hundreds of disabled adults in Alabama and their advocates and caretakers rallied at the Statehouse in Montgomery to urge legislators to remove the word retarded from state code.

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Amid the concern, the former American Association of Mental Retardation - which changed its own name in January - is making preparations to revise the definition of mental retardation for the 11th time since 1908.

"The self-advocacy community really hates the word 'retarded,' and they've been very vocal about that," said Doreen Croser, executive director of what is now known as the American Association of Intellectual and Development Disabilities.

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Public opinion helps determine when the definition is outdated, as it is now, she said. It is unlikely that changing to the term currently accepted by advocates - "intellectual disability" - will resolve the issue definitively.

The last sentence sums up the problem. When I was a kid, one might call another "retarded" if they did something stupid. Now, I hear kids use the term "developmentally disabled" in the same circumstance. I'm sure "intellectual disability" become a pejorative for kids at some point.

I simply try to make sure my kids treat all other kids with proper respect and abstain for teasing, etc. When it comes to "proper respect," a lot of people of normal or higher intelligence don't necessarily deserve much. But, I frequently I encounter people of limited intelligence who work hard and do the best they can. They deserve much respect.