Mental Retardation in America

Mental Retardation in America

Author: Steven Noll

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2004-02

Total Pages: 524

ISBN-13: 0814782485

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The expressions "idiot, you idiot, you're an idiot, don't be an idiot," and the like are generally interpreted as momentary insults. But, they are also expressions that represent an old, if unstable, history. Beginning with an examination of the early nineteenth century labeling of mental retardation as "idiocy," to what we call developmental, intellectual, or learning disabilities, Mental Retardation in America chronicles the history of mental retardation, its treatment and labeling, and its representations and ramifications within the changing economic, social, and political context of America. Mental Retardation in America includes essays with a wide range of authors who approach the problems of retardation from many differing points of view. This work is divided into five sections, each following in chronological order the major changes in the treatment of people classified as retarded. Exploring historical issues, as well as current public policy concerns, Mental Retardation in America covers topics ranging from representations of the mentally disabled as social burdens and social menaces; Freudian inspired ideas of adjustment and adaptation; the relationship between community care and institutional treatment; historical events, such as the Buck v. Bell decision, which upheld the opinion on eugenic sterilization; the evolution of the disability rights movement; and the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990.


Inventing the Feeble Mind

Inventing the Feeble Mind

Author: James Trent

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-11-01

Total Pages: 393

ISBN-13: 0199396205

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Pity, disgust, fear, cure, and prevention--all are words that Americans have used to make sense of what today we call intellectual disability. Inventing the Feeble Mind explores the history of this disability from its several identifications over the past 200 years: idiocy, imbecility, feeblemindedness, mental defect, mental deficiency, mental retardation, and most recently intellectual disability. Using institutional records, private correspondence, personal memories, and rare photographs, James Trent argues that the economic vulnerability of intellectually disabled people (and often their families), more than the claims made for their intellectual and social limitations, has shaped meaning, services, and policies in United States history.


Understanding Mental Retardation

Understanding Mental Retardation

Author: Patricia Ainsworth (M.D.)

Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 213

ISBN-13: 1604730536

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CONSUMER HEALTH . What measures can parents and advocates take to insure that people who have mental retardation live full, rewarding lives from infancy to old age?. Understanding Mental Retardation explores a diverse group of disorders from their biological roots to the everyday challenges faced by this special population and their families. With parents and those who care for people who have mental retardation in mind, Patricia Ainsworth and Pamela C. Baker write in a style that is at once accessible, informative, and sympathetic to the concerns of those affected. The authors provide practical information that will assist families and other advocates in obtaining needed services. They discuss assessment and treatment, education and employment, social and sexual adjustment, as well as regulatory and legal issues. This book covers the causes of mental retardation, the signs and symptoms of the most common forms of these disorders, and issues of prevention. For the sake of comparison, the book describes basic concepts of normal human development and references the history of Western civilization's responses to those with mental retardation. Understanding Mental Retardation sheds new light on mental illnesses that can complicate the lives of those with mental retardation, and the way symptoms of mental illness may appear confused or masked in a patient with mental retardation. Along with information on treatments and diagnoses, the book offers contact information for governmental resources, as well as a brief summary of the legal issues pertaining to mental retardation in America. Patricia Ainsworth is an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and has a private practice in Ridgeland, Mississippi. She is the author of Understanding Depression (University Press of Mississippi). Pamela C. Baker is director of the South Mississippi Regional Center in Long Beach, Mississippi. She is also an independent consultant in management and disabilities administration and co-editor of Embarking on a New Century: Mental Retardation at the End of the 20th Century .


The History of Mental Symptoms

The History of Mental Symptoms

Author: G. E. Berrios

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1996-04-11

Total Pages: 588

ISBN-13: 9780521437363

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An important and unique survey of the historical background to the descriptive categories of psychopathology.


Mental Retardation

Mental Retardation

Author: Robert B. Edgerton

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1979

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13: 9780674568860

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Explains the causes of retardation, the prevention of retardation through such means as genetic counseling and prenatal care, and the methods of helping retarded children on the familial, social, and educational levels.


Mental Retardation

Mental Retardation

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2002-08-09

Total Pages: 351

ISBN-13: 0309083230

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Current estimates suggest that between one and three percent of people living in the United States will receive a diagnosis of mental retardation. Mental retardation, a condition characterized by deficits in intellectual capabilities and adaptive behavior, can be particularly hard to diagnose in the mild range of the disability. The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) provides income support and medical benefits to individuals with cognitive limitations who experience significant problems in their ability to perform work and may therefore be in need of governmental support. Addressing the concern that SSA's current procedures are consistent with current scientific and professional practices, this book evaluates the process used by SSA to determine eligibility for these benefits. It examines the adequacy of the SSA definition of mental retardation and its current procedures for assessing intellectual capabilities, discusses adaptive behavior and its assessment, advises on ways to combine intellectual and adaptive assessment to provide a complete profile of an individual's capabilities, and clarifies ways to differentiate mental retardation from other conditions.


Mental Retardation

Mental Retardation

Author: George S. Baroff

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-06-03

Total Pages: 518

ISBN-13: 1317822463

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Mental Retardation, now in the third edition, was hailed as a classic when it was first published in the 1970's. This edition provides up-to-date material on the major dimensions of mental retardation-its nature, its causes, both biological and psychological, and its management.


A History of Childhood and Disability

A History of Childhood and Disability

Author: Philip L. Safford

Publisher: Teachers College Press

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 9780807734858

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In their chronological portrait, the authors synthesize the many voices of exceptional children, providing a historical picture that includes not only the perspective of the professional, but also, to the extent possible, that of the "client." The book begins by placing the origins of special education in historical context from Aristotle through the Enlightenment and beyond. Subsequent chapters consider individual "conditions" traditionally associated with specialized approaches (e.g., blindness, deafness, and retardation), discuss conditions that have given rise to further differentiation of childhood exceptionality, and offer a synthesis of themes and a prospective for a "new history," now emerging, of children considered exceptional.


Ethics and Mental Retardation

Ethics and Mental Retardation

Author: L.M. Kopelman

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 1984-02-29

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 9789027716309

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This volume offers a collection of writings on ethical issues regarding retarded persons. Because this important subject has been generally omitted from formal discussions of ethics, there is a great deal which needs to be addressed in a theoretical and critical way. Of course, many people have been very concerned with practical matters concerning the care of retarded persons such as what liberties, entitlements or advocacy they should have. Interestingly, because so much practical attention has been given to issues which are not discussed by ethical theorists, they offer a rare opportunity to evaluate ethical theories themselves. That is, certain theories which appear convincing on other subjects seem implausible when they are applied to reasoned and com pelling views we hold concerning retarded individuals. Our subject, then, has both practical and conceptual dimensions. More over, because it is one where pertinent information comes from many sources, contributors to this volume represent many fields, including philosophy, religion, history, law and medicine. We regret that it was not possible to include more points of view, like those of psychologists, sociologists, nurses and families. There is however, a good and longstanding literature on mental retardation from these perspectives.