[DMCForum] Re: Car Designers

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've run into people who assume that "mental retardation" necessarily
equates to "cognitive dissonance". Nothing could be further from the
truth. Many sufferers are accutely aware of their functional
limitations even if they can't elucidate (to those of us outside their
own minds at least) exactly what it is that holds them back. This can
be a source of ongoing pain and frustration -- of course they don't
want to be disabled from the world around them. And don't forget that
one of the behavioral manifestations of mental retardation is often
emotional instability to begin with! Just hearing the word "retarded"
can trigger a very negative response. That's why I encourage people to
use it carefully, even in applications where it is totally appropriate
(ignition timing for example). I attend church with two mentally
retarded adults (two different biological causes) and consciously use
"back off" or "closer to top" whenever discussing cars there for that
very reason -- I don't want either of them to overhear my
conversation, from around a corner perhaps, and misunderstand my use
of the word.

Bill Robertson
#5939

>--- In DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Andrew <aos+yahoo@xxxx> wrote:
> On Sun, 3 Apr 2005, content22207 wrote:
> 
> > The word is "retarded", and please be careful using it to describe 
> > anything other than human functionality.
> 
> Why?  Human mental disfunctionality is but one of this very useful
word's 
> many definitions.  Let's not cow to the forces of political correctness 
> and ignore all the other uses of an English word which predates the
modern 
> diagnosis of any such mental conditions.
> 
> Perhaps Josh editorialized that the educational system in his state
is a 
> throwback, in which case the report could perfectly accurately be
called 
> retarded.  Perhaps he meant he can't finish the report without
finding a 
> car designer to speak to, in which case his lack of research ability is 
> retarding his schoolwork.
> 
> Then again, he probably meant exactly what you think he did, and I'm
just 
> an asshole.
> 
> -andrew

---

Yahoo! Groups Links

• To visit your group on the web, go to:
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DMCForum/
   
• To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
  DMCForum-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
   
• Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.