|
 |
|
At the recent Race for
Intellectual Disabilities this team wore "Disable the Label"
t-shirts. The event was sponsored by ResCare. The Belmont County
Board of DD was a major sponsor. |
Ohio
has become the latest state to drop the term "mental retardation" from
the name of its state agency and the 88 county boards. The legislation
renames the state cabinet department the Ohio Department of
Developmental Disabilities and all county boards as boards of
developmental disabilities.
The unanimous vote in both houses of the legislature
marked a very noteworthy triumph for self-advocates to "Disable the
Label" of mental retardation. Legislators agreed that the term has long
been used in a negative way and has been a hurtful description to
individuals with developmental disabilities.
But, Ohio has used the term "mental retardation" in the
names of county boards for more than 40 years. To help with the public
awareness of the county boards in Ohio and elsewhere, Ohio Public Images
has put together the "Disable the Label campaign." The campaign,
available free for download, includes artwork, suggested low cost
public awareness activities, sample news releases, and some sample
public service announcements.
|
