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ROSA'S lAW- getting rid of the R word
10/10/10
ROSA'S lAW- getting rid of the R word
Courtesy Photo. Rosa Marcellino, 9, second from left, is shown with siblings Maddie, 13, Gigi, 11, and Nick, 15, during the Special Olympics state games, held in June. Rosa has Down syndrome and is the inspiration behind ?Rosa?s Law? that removes the terms "mentally retarded" and ?mental retardation" from federal education, health and labor laws.
On October 5 ,2010 President Barack Obama signed bill S.2781 (Rosa's law) into Federal law. This very important milestone is finally giving fairness to those who are mentally challenged. It has taken years and a major commitment by many. But now fairness will be the law. This law will remove the terms mental retardation and mentally retarded from federal health ,education and labor policy and replace them with people first language namely "individual with an intellectual disability " and "intellectual disability".
Unfortunately it's taken longer. We have a long history of classifying people who are different. At one time I would have been known as a cripple. Today I am a person with physical disabilities due to MS. The language we use to describe a person or a group of people is just so important. A word with emotional negative connotations can be devastating to people. As Rosa's brother Nick stated "What you call people is how you treat them". " If you believe she's 'retarded', it invites taunting, stigma. It invites bullying and it also invites the slammed doors of being treated with respect and dignity."
And the use of stereotyped negative words to describe our fellow citizens is not appropriate in a humane democratic society.
For more information on the history of this law and the importance of it go to: http://www.specialolympics.org/rosas-law.aspx?tr=y&auid=7053854
ellie
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