I can see doing away with the term "idiot" or "feeble-minded", although I know some people (adults) that would fit these descriptions very well. However....
My 10 year old son is "developmentally disabled." He has high-functioning Autism with ADHD, but despite his social skills issues, he is bright and will grow up to go to college and have a career and possibly a family. To paint children with disabilities like Downs, mentally retarded, etc. with the same color "developmentally disabled" brush puts my son in the same category. I don't want that. He has so much more potential, and I don't want a label to get in the way of that.
I'm sorry if this offends parents with a sensitivity towards this subject, but if your kid is retarded mentally and will not progress beyond the ability, as an example, of a 6 year old, is it really fair to lump in my kid with yours? I don't think so. Now, instead of kids shouting on the playground "You're retarded!", it will be "You're DD!" How soon until we outlaw the term "developmentally disabled" just so we don't hurt anyone's feelings?
Forget the broad definition; we should call the kids what they are, whether autistic, afflicted by Downs, or otherwise. To make the terminology less hurtful to us doesn't erase the truth of our children's afflictions. It is by our interventions and assistance alone that our children will be all they can be. Ignorance will always be out there beyond our homes and schools, and we have to teach our children how to deal with that. That's the reality, so let's focus on teaching our kids to live in the real world rather than trying to force change on the playground.
Twitter
Myspace
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Slashdot
Furl
Yahoo
Technorati
Newsvine
Facebook