For Glenda Murry, the term mental retardation evokes memories of taunting classmates at Athens Middle School before she transferred to Beacon School, which is run by the Athens Board of Developmental Disabilities.
(The term mental retardation) hurts my feelings
said Murry, 36, who has received services through the board since she was 12. All the kids laughed at me that I couldn't do nothing that all the other kids could do.
The board was known as the Athens County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities until last May when two Athens advocacy groups for people with disabilities lobbied to drop the MR from the title.
Now Murry, who belongs to both groups, and other advocates are focusing their energy on changing the name on the state level.
Two Ohio house bills introduced by Senator Jimmy Stewart in September would have removed mental retardation from the names of the county boards and from language in the Ohio Revised Code, but
didn't come to a vote before the house ended its session.
The folks in Athens were the ones who initially brought the issue to my attention Stewart said. I'm reintroducing both bills (in the Senate) very soon.
Although the Athens county board and about 10 others in Ohio have informally changed their names, the term mental retardation is embedded in state law, said Steve Koch, an adviser to the Consumer Advisory Council. The council is one of the advocacy groups that pushed for the name change in Athens.
The council has been collaborating with the Developmental Disabilities Council for Public Policy in Athens and plans to approach State Representative Debbie Phillips in addition to Stewart to maintain support for the legislation.
Phillips said she plans to work with Stewart and the
legislation's other supporters in Congress.
It seems like a common-sense thing to update our code and to update the language that we use
to be more respectful Phillips said.
Removing mental retardation from board titles and legal terminology is supported by different advocacy groups across the state, but board members in some counties are concerned about losing name recognition with voters during levy elections, Stewart said.
Jody Harris, superintendent for the Athens County Board of DD, said the name change won't affect the Athens board's levy elections, because the ballot has always listed the names of the facilities, such as Beacon School, instead of the board's name.
I think it is a concern for other county boards who may be known differently in their communities
Harris said.
The legislation might allow a transition period for counties to educate constituencies about the name change before they are required to update the wording on the ballot, she said.
We're not changing the criteria or who gets services. ... none of that is changing
Harris said.
Jason Licht, 32, a member of the Consumer Advisory Council, said he plans to continue communicating with legislators to make
sure the bills don't lose momentum.
(Mental retardation) is a term out of the 1930s. ... it's an antique and it's got to go
Licht said. I will continue making my case until the name is dropped.
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Culture
Meghan McNamara
