American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance - AAHPERD

Issue: October 2011

"Retarded?" Who Still Says That? An Adapted Physical Education Perspective
Susan J. Tarr  

Abstract: By assigning students a label from one of the 11 disability categories, schools receive money from the government to provide appropriate educational assistance to facilitate student learning (e.g., special equipment, paraprofessional support). But educators often think of this labeling as a double-edged sword: children must have the label to obtain special services, but the label often negatively affects them throughout life. This article discusses the negative effects of using labels or derogatory names to refer to people with disabilities, and describes how teachers can teach their students avoid the use of labels such as "retard" or "retarded" in order to help them become socially accepting of all persons, disability or not.

Article category: Features