“R-Word” Removed from Legislation

Lt. Governor Brian Calley will sign legislation tomorrow to remove all instances of the words “retardation” and “retarded” from state laws. The state Legislature unanimously passed the respective bills, earlier this month, that would replace the words with “developmental disability” or “intellectually disabled.” While the terms retarded, retardation, and mental retardation used to refer to people with learning or developmental disabilities, it is now widely regarded as offensive or insulting. The term, in its different forms, appears 15 times in Michigan laws dealing with everything from mental health to education to crime. The bills came out of recommendations from the bipartisan Michigan Mental Health and Wellness Commission.