West Texas MHMR centers dropping R-word

From The Big Spring Herald in Texas:

West Texas Centers for MHMR is following the lead of many agencies nationwide by removing the words ‘mental retardation’ from their everyday language and organization’s title.

“It’s a word that has become derogatory over time,” said Rodney Jones, West Texas Centers Chief of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Services. “It’s a word that was once used for a medical diagnosis, but society has turned it into a word that stigmatizes others.”

“We felt it was time to remove the word from our Center’s title.”

The mental health and intellectual and developmental disabilities agency serving 23 rural counties in West Texas will now be known as West Texas Centers.

“It’s something we have been talking about for awhile,” Jones said. “Most health care and social services organizations are moving in the same direction.”

West Texas Centers CEO Shelley Smith approached the Center’s Board of Trustees earlier this summer with the idea of the name change. The board unanimously agreed to align the Center’s title with the national shift in ideology.

The Center’s name change became effective Sept. 1 — the start of the new fiscal year.

“I think eventually you will see the words “mental retardation” removed from the medical landscape,” Smith said.

“The words — mental retardation — which were developed as a clinical term have turned into a harsh, negative term,” she said. “The words ‘intellectual and developmental disabilities’ more accurately describes the people we serve. We want to be sensitive to their needs and the needs of all those we serve.”

West Texas Centers provides care for 2,200 people a month with mental health and intellectual and developmental disabilities issues in 23 counties in West Texas. West Texas Centers also offers the Little Lives Early Childhood Intervention program.