Developmental Disabilities. Yep. That fits.

AAIDD F.Y.I.--April 2007 - Visit www.aaidd.org/FYI/ to access current and past issues of this monthly newsletter.
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION ON INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES (AAIDD-FORMERLY AAMR) ANNOUNCES THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY, AND RENAMES "MENTAL RETARDATION" IN ITS UPCOMING CLASSIFICATION AND TERMINOLOGY MANUAL

The group of AAIDD experts responsible for defining the condition of intellectual disability to the world now explains the move away from the word "mental retardation" to the term intellectual disability in an article published in the April issue of the journal, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. "At the heart of this shift is the understanding that this term covers the same population of individuals who were diagnosed previously with mental retardation in number, kind, level, type, and duration of the disability and the need of people with this disability for individualized services and supports," explain Robert Schalock et al. in "The Renaming of Mental Retardation: Understanding the Change to the Term Intellectual Disability." The article cites the new definition for intellectual disability and the assumptions on which it is based, although the official 11th edition of the AAIDD definition Manual is expected to be published in the year 2009.

To learn more about the current AAIDD definition Manual titled, Mental Retardation: Definition, Classification and Systems of Support (10th edition) click here. To learn more about a User's Guide on how to implement the AAIDD definition system, click here. Questions or comments? Email books@aaidd.org

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