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Out FORConn's "Know Your Rights" Flier!
What
is Mental Retardation?
Connecticut
General Statutes 1-1g define mental retardation
as:
"Mental
retardation means a significantly subaverage
general intellectual functioning existing concurrently
with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested
during the developmental period (between birth
and the eighteenth birthday)."
What
Causes Mental Retardation?
The
Merck Manual of Medical Information--Home Edition
Section 23. Children's Health Issues Chapter 255
states:
"Mental Retardation is subaverage intellectual
ability present from birth or early infancy.
People who are mentally retarded have a lower
intellectual development than normal and difficulties
in learning and social adaptation. About 3 percent
of the total population are mentally retarded.
Causes Intelligence is determined by both heredity
and environment. In most cases of mental retardation,
the cause is unknown. But several conditions
during a woman's pregnancy can cause or contribute
to mental retardation in her child. Common ones
include the use of certain drugs, excessive
consumption of alcohol, radiation therapy, poor
nutrition, and certain viral infections, such
as German measles (rubella). Chromosomal abnormalities,
such as Down syndrome, are a common cause of
mental retardation. A number of hereditary disorders
also can cause mental retardation. Some, such
as phenylketonuria and cretinism can be corrected
before mental retardation occurs. Difficulties
associated with premature birth, head injury
during birth, or very low oxygen levels during
birth also may cause mental retardation. "
Is
Mental Retardation Treatable?
Interventions may help stop or slow down the disease
or condition that is causing the mental retardation.
Therapy,
educational supports, medical intervention and
family support may help improve the quality of
life and condition for the person with mental
retardation.
Is
Mental Retardation Preventable?
Some
forms of mental retardation are preventable, including
but not limited to the following:
- The
rubella vaccine has dramatically decreased German
measles (rubella) as a cause of mental retardation.
- Gestational
causes of mental retardation that are preventable
if treated prior to fetal damage including but
not limited to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, complications
from drug use and improper nutrition.
- Diseases
such as phenylketonuria and cretinism can be
corrected before mental retardation occurs.
Changing
the Name of Mental Retardation
The
White House, President George W. Bush
Executive
Order 12994
By
the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States
of America, and in order to change the name of
the "Presidents Committee on Mental Retardation"
to the "Presidents Committee for People with
Intellectual Disabilities" (the "Committee")
and expand the membership of the Committee, it
is hereby ordered as follows:
Section
1. The Presidents Committee on Mental Retardation
is hereby renamed the Presidents Committee for
People with Intellectual Disabilities.
Section
2. Executive Order 12994 of March 21, 1996,
is hereby amended by deleting the words "mental
retardation" and inserting the words "intellectual
disabilities" in lieu thereof throughout
the text of that order, except in the title, and
first line of the preamble, and section 1 of that
order.
Section
3. Section 1 of Executive Order 12994 is
amended by deleting the words "(the "Committee")
and adding after "responsibilities,"
the words renamed the Presidents Committee for
People with Intellectual Disabilities (the "Committee")."
Section
4. Section 2 of Executive Order 12994 is
amended by inserting after "(5) The
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,"
the following: "(6) The Secretary of
Homeland Security," and renumbering former
subsections (6) through (9) as subsections (10)
through (13).
Section
5. The Committee is continued until September30,
2005.
GEORGE
W. BUSH
THE
WHITE HOUSE
July
25, 2003
The
On Going Debate About the Name Change
I
was asked by the Health Educator for the Mohegan
Tribal Health Department if I would be interested
in attending one of their Health Awareness Days
Events and set up a table with information about
mental retardation. Once a month they have
this event and it is held in their employees cafeteria
for their employees only.
On
July 3, 2003 I attended their event and set up
a table with brochures and information on mental
retardation. The sign placed on my table
read Developmental Disabilities.
During
the day several employees looked at all the different
displays from all the different organizations
that were there. I didn't have too many
people during the day who were interested in what
I had displayed but the most important thing I
learned that day was not surprising to be but
certainly reinforced by believes.
One
employee while looking at the material I had displayed
on the table and after reading the sign on the
table which said Developmental Disabilities
asked me what did those words
mean. I said in this case they mean Mental
Retardation after which he replied oh,
OK I know what that is.
The
point being, what Developmental Disabilities
means and what Mental Retardation
means is all together different and can
be very confusing and in some cases as this one
points out meaningless.
Robert
Wood
Past President
FORConn
July
10, 2003
-
Public Act 06-92 (HB 5478) was passed in 2006 by
the Legislature and requires DMR to solicit
input regarding a name change for the Department
from clients and families receiving services
provided by the Department, advocates of persons
with mental retardation and other interested
parties. DMR is required to submit a
report of the findings and recommendations,
including the cost of any recommended name
change, to the Governor, the Office of Policy
and Management and the Public Health Committee
not later than January 1, 2007.
There will be a statewide public forum at 9:30 AM
on Thursday, September 7, 2006 in Room 1D at the
Legislative Office Building in Hartford.
Additional details are available on DMR's website:
http://www.dmr.state.ct.us/NameChange.htm.
Additional
Links
- Should
Specialized Health Services Exist for People
with Medically/Dentally-complex Mental Retardation/Developmental
Disabilities?
Summary: Philip May,
M.D. explores the history of services for people
with mental retardation. He notes that while
service trends have moved away from a "one-size
fits all" approach to a more individualized
approach which takes into account individual
needs, health care services have not followed
suit. Using the evolution of the hospital as
an analogy, Dr. May suggests the need for "medical
specialization" in the fields of developmental
medicine and dentistry. Dr. May is a Clinical
Associate Professor of Medicine at Robert Woods
Johnson School of Medicine, a physician at Hunterdon
Developmental Center, and a Voice
of the Retarded (VOR) Board Member.
Written by Philip May, M.D., October 22, 2001
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FORConn
- Working since 1984 For Connecticut Residents
who have Mental Retardation.
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