ANSWERS: 7
  • Right after the mentally retarded learned that they are called mentally disabled.
  • Political correctness maybe.
  • I never heard mentally retarded people called that. I only heard that term applied to a small fraction of people who had Down's Syndrome. So why should all mentally retarded people be called that?
  • We live in an age of political correctness. Mongolism is now called Down Syndrome. It is a specific condition, not common to all mentally retarded. Down syndrome people were called 'mongoloid' because of the eye shape that they have in common resembles that of Mongolians. (the suffix '-oid' means resembling or shaped like). The change came about for several reasons, one being that there is no connection between Down Syndrome and the Mongolian people, so it could cause confusion and possibly insult members of either group. I believe that it was a Dr. Down who classified the condition so that it took his name. Apparently some are also insulted by the term retarded. Since the word means delayed or late, it seems perfectly correct to me, but in our day many dislike calling something what it really is. Now the term 'special' is in vogue. So, while a child with exceptional ability may really be special, calling him such could mean he's retarded. Go figure. I have mentally retarded cousins whom i love dearly. To me they are special, but no more than my cousins of average intelligence. Personally, i believe that if you show respect for the person, you can call them what they are, whether retarded, crippled, white, black, short or fat. The trend today is not to step on toes, believing that it is better to use long, wordy terms that don't really describe the subject at hand. This is also the reason for using 'they' in place of 'he' and 'she'. Apparently some are so ashamed of their gender that they prefer to hide it behind ambiguous and incorrect English. I can respect and love a short, fat retarded black woman without calling her (i mean 'them') a member of the vertically challenged, latitudinally ample, special African-American community. If speaking plainly bothers any of our dear readers, please let me know. I'd love to hear another view.
  • Probably about the time people started realizing that being 'Mongoloid' (old term for Downs Syndrome) did not necessarily mean 'mentally retarded'. Being mentally retarded can be the result of many different malady's (spelling?). And it is also possible for a person with Down's Syndrome NOT to be mentally retarded. So the archaic term "Mongoloid" was, in this case, not simply a matter of being politically incorrect, it was, in fact, just not accurate.
  • They revolted and demanded to be called retards instead, it's more politically correct
  • They never were, they were called "Retards" the kids with DOWNS were called Mongoloids.

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