My Journal - Week 46 (03Jul10)
Another home-run scored for our team....
I talk about this often, and I will contine to do so as long as there is positive change. Recently New York has fallen in line with the fight to abolish the term "Mental Retardation".
People Before Disabilities:
"New York will finally update the name of the state office charged with ensuring fair treatment and quality-of-life to people with various developmental disabilities, not just by taking the "r" word out of the title, but by adding "people" to it.
The Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities will now become the State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, after votes taken last week in the state Assembly and Senate. The name change was originally introduced last year by Gov. David Paterson. Rhode Island remains the only state to have "retardation" in an agency title."
Read more here:
http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2010/07/13/state-disabilities-agency-bids-goodbye-to-the-r-word/
In my personal struggle, I am hoping for change (using the "r" word) with a company called ADAM. They are a medical resource corporation who provide literature to people, companies, websites etc. In there literature describing Down syndrome, I am sorry to say they utilize the "r" word, and I have been trying to get them to change this because their literature is used by MedHelp, the organization I volunteer many of my personal hours to on a daily basis. Because I advocate about Down syndrome, and I respond to many people who have questions regarding prenatal testing, risks and odds and obviously about Down syndrome itself, I rely on MedHelp to have the proper positive literature and not in effect "poisoned" with negativity from the term "Mental Retardation". I had contacted ADAM earlier this year (using a standard "contact us" web form) and had no response. Today, I have re-established contact with a newer more personal direct email, and I am now more hopeful. I will definitely report on whatever the outcome is with respect to ADAM, and essentially MedHelp. I am hoping that I have success. It's definitely a battle worth pursuing, if not for Hunter, for everyone affected by that negative term.
"New York will finally update the name of the state office charged with ensuring fair treatment and quality-of-life to people with various developmental disabilities, not just by taking the "r" word out of the title, but by adding "people" to it.
The Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities will now become the State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, after votes taken last week in the state Assembly and Senate. The name change was originally introduced last year by Gov. David Paterson. Rhode Island remains the only state to have "retardation" in an agency title."
Read more here:
http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2010/07/13/state-disabilities-agency-bids-goodbye-to-the-r-word/
In my personal struggle, I am hoping for change (using the "r" word) with a company called ADAM. They are a medical resource corporation who provide literature to people, companies, websites etc. In there literature describing Down syndrome, I am sorry to say they utilize the "r" word, and I have been trying to get them to change this because their literature is used by MedHelp, the organization I volunteer many of my personal hours to on a daily basis. Because I advocate about Down syndrome, and I respond to many people who have questions regarding prenatal testing, risks and odds and obviously about Down syndrome itself, I rely on MedHelp to have the proper positive literature and not in effect "poisoned" with negativity from the term "Mental Retardation". I had contacted ADAM earlier this year (using a standard "contact us" web form) and had no response. Today, I have re-established contact with a newer more personal direct email, and I am now more hopeful. I will definitely report on whatever the outcome is with respect to ADAM, and essentially MedHelp. I am hoping that I have success. It's definitely a battle worth pursuing, if not for Hunter, for everyone affected by that negative term.
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