I just heard from the Associated Press that the preferred term for newspapers to use when referring to people with significantly subaverage intellectual functioning is "mentally retarded."
The Associated Press Stylebook occasionally sends out new entries, for words like U.S. (now acceptable to abbreviate as a noun) and fundraiser (all one word, rather than hyphenated).
This time, I was curious and e-mailed AP Stylebook Editor Norm Goldstein in New York about it. In our efforts to be polite and politically correct, we've danced around the term "retarded" for many years. Why the change, I asked him?
Here's his response:
Thanks for your interest in AP style.
The question had come up in the past, mostly from editors who faced the same editorial problem you cite. After some research and numerous discussions, we agreed that “mentally retarded” seemed to be the most useful description in most cases – as long as it is used accurately and is clearly pertinent to the story.
We based the definition on that of the American Association of Mental Retardation, which defines mental retardation, in part, as “significantly subaverage intellectual functioning.”
AP also uses similar terms, such as “developmentally disabled,” but we don’t consider this as clear a description.
We avoid the derogatory “retard” in all cases.
(As for a “previously preferred term,” we had no “official” guideline, which prompted this new Stylebook entry.)
Norm Goldstein/AP Stylebook editor
1 comment:
I for one find that slightly offensive. I hope the TP doesn't take the AP's suggestions as law. ;)
What's your opinion on this, Cheri?
FROM CHERI: When I was in grade school, kids often called other kids "mentally retarded" on the playground. But mainstreaming didn't come until much later, so we were obviously using the term incorrectly. There were no mentally retarded students on our playgrounds in the 1960s.
Even today, I've seen the term "mentally retarded" used in newspaper articles to describe people with all kinds of disabilities, even physical disabilities. That's wrong. Then we go out of our way to be politically correct and use the catch-all phrase "special needs," which is a euphemism.
I'm still mulling over whether we'll follow the AP style on this one.
I'd like to hear what other readers have to say.
Posted by: Nicholas Dykzeul at November 12, 2005 11:40 AM
There are many words more accurate than those that are considered current politically correct. "Spaz" was fine for my generation. Others who were physically handicapped were "crippled."
I understand the AP Style reason for dropping "African American," because not all African Americans are black. But black doesn't cut it either. Some "blacks" are beige.
There has to be a consistent way to do things, but it seems that sensitivity is the best yardstick.
Who makes the rules? Do we make them and AP adopts them? Or does AP tell us what to use and we take their word for it?
I say "mentally retarded" is accurate, but those have become dirty words for some of us.
Posted by: Mike McLellan at November 15, 2005 05:20 PM
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