Why did the mentally retarded stop being called mongoloids?
We live in an age of political correctness. Mongolism is now called Down Syndrome. It is a specific condition, not common to all mentally retarded. Down syndrome people were called ‘mongoloid’ because of the eye shape that they have in common resembles that of Mongolians. (the suffix ‘-oid’ means resembling or shaped like). The change came about for several reasons, one being that there is no connection between Down Syndrome and the Mongolian people, so it could cause confusion and possibly insult members of either group. I believe that it was a Dr. Down who classified the condition so that it took his name. Apparently some are also insulted by the term retarded. Since the word means delayed or late, it seems perfectly correct to me, but in our day many dislike calling something what it really is. Now the term ‘special’ is in vogue. So, while a child with exceptional ability may really be special, calling him such could mean he’s retarded. Go figure. I have mentally retarded cousins wh
