mentally retarded

mentally retarded (comparative more mentally retarded, superlative most mentally retarded)

1. (now offensive) intellectually disabled, medically defined as having an IQ (intelligence quotient) below 70 in addition to deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors (which means having problems with basic functional skills that affect everyday, general living).
   • 2000 April 19, Kate Connolly, The Guardian:

     The European Roma Rights Centre in Budapest, which is representing the children - from the north-eastern city of Ostrava - said that the education ministry and local authorities had for decades "perpetuated a system which routinely brands disproportionate numbers of Gypsies as mentally retarded".

   • 2011 April 30, Huang Yan, Benjamin Kang Lim, “China court jails couple for enslaving mentally retarded workers”, in Robert Birsel, editor, Reuters‎, archived from the original on 2023-04-28‎:

     A Chinese court has jailed a couple for forcing a group of mentally retarded people to work like slaves at a factory in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, the official Xinhua news agency said in a report seen on Sunday. […]
     Incidents of forced labour have shocked China in the past, with slave bosses often preying on the mentally retarded.

   • 2013 July 14, Lindsay C. Harrison, “Save mentally retarded inmate from execution: Column”, in USA Today‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2013-07-15, Opinion‎:

     Per court rules, an original petition should be granted where "exceptional circumstances warrant the exercise of the court's discretionary powers" and "adequate relief cannot be obtained in any other form or from any other court." Given unanimous opinion that he is mentally retarded and thus ineligible for execution, Hill's case presents such "exceptional circumstances."

   • 2014 April 18, Eugene Volokh, “Sterilization of the “intellectually disabled””, in The Washington Post‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2014-04-19, The Volokh Conspiracy‎:

     Doesn’t that mean that court-ordered sterilizations are forbidden today?
     Well, it turns out that many courts are indeed authorizing sterilization of mentally retarded women, if certain procedures are used to try to make sure that the sterilization is really necessary to serve the woman’s best interests (and even if the woman is unable to meaningfully consent herself).

   • 2015 July 16, Jon Herskovitz, “Texas set to execute man for murder of 93-year-old woman”, in Sandra Maler, editor, Reuters‎, archived from the original on 2023-04-29, U.S. News‎:

     In April of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a motion filed by Williams’ lawyers to halt the execution. They argued that he is mentally retarded and putting him to death him would be unconstitutional.

   • 2022 July 26, Zach Williams, quoting Kathy Hochul, “Gov. Hochul signs bill dropping ‘mentally retarded’ from state use”, in New York Post‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-07-26‎:

     New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law Tuesday legislation removing “mentally retarded” as an official term from state laws overseeing everything from alleged crimes to the arts.
     “Numerous sections of New York State law people with disabilities as being mentally retarded. We’ve evolved from that. That is a stigma that we can move away from,” Hochul said at a Midtown press conference.

   • 2022 August 19, Vidya, “Bombay High Court reduces sentence of man accused of raping mentally retarded woman”, in India Today‎, archived from the original on 2022-10-23‎:

     The bench said that since the case involved a woman with mild mental retardation, the matter should be considered with utmost sensitivity. "In the present case, the victim is a helpless, mild mentally retarded girl and thus, the present case requires to be dealt with utmost sensitivity, her privacy and personal integrity has been shattered by the appellant," the bench observed while upholding the conviction.

• intellectually disabled
• developmentally disabled
• mentally challenged
• special
• developmentally delayed
• retarded (offensive)