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[[User:Tkeys95|Tkeys95]] ([[User talk:Tkeys95|talk]]) 05:24, 21 August 2010 (UTC)
[[User:Tkeys95|Tkeys95]] ([[User talk:Tkeys95|talk]]) 05:24, 21 August 2010 (UTC)
:{{not done}} Consensus in the past has deemed that political correctness is no reason to change the name of an article. Numrous examples from this page's archives include [[Talk:Mental retardation#intellectual disabilities|this discussion]]. Thanks, <b>[[User:Stickee|Stickee]] <small>[[User_talk:Stickee|(talk)]]</small></b> 06:00, 21 August 2010 (UTC)
:{{not done}} Consensus in the past has deemed that political correctness is no reason to change the name of an article. Numrous examples from this page's archives include [[Talk:Mental retardation#intellectual disabilities|this discussion]]. Thanks, <b>[[User:Stickee|Stickee]] <small>[[User_talk:Stickee|(talk)]]</small></b> 06:00, 21 August 2010 (UTC)
== "cretin" ==

I think further research may reveal that this word does not come from the French for 'christian' but is actually derived from the word 'Crete', which is an island near Greece. People from one region usually use the natives of neighbouring regions as the butt of jokes about stupidity. Greece also used Beotians, and in some languages 'beotian' is a synonym for 'idiot'. It may well be the case of 'cretin'. <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/201.27.93.39|201.27.93.39]] ([[User talk:201.27.93.39|talk]]) 22:48, 16 July 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

The question of the original meaning of "cretin" may be illuminated by the following anecdote, lifted from the Wikipedia page about the composer [[Moritz Moszkowski]], which tends to support the former use of "Christian" as a collective term for people with disabilities:

:Moritz Moszkowski once underscribed an autograph book which had been previously inscribed by the great German conductor, virtuoso pianist and composer [[Hans von Bülow]], who had written the following words: "The three greatest composers are [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]], [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] and [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]]. All the others are cretins." When Moszkowski saw this, he added underneath: "The three greatest composers are [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]], [[Giacomo Meyerbeer|Meyerbeer]] and Moszkowski. All the others are Christians!"<ref>Alan Walker [http://books.google.cz/books?id=0nyKAeR7VgwC&pg=PT318&lpg=PT318&dq=letters+of+moritz+moszkowski&source=bl&ots=ghmi3OtwkE&sig=M1dq4ZzuSYwLl6BCvJ3Kl7gPkWI&hl=en&ei=6BAoS5TzIoWomgOQ1P2cDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CA0Q6AEwAjge#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''Hans Von Bülow: A Life and Times''] pg. 289, Oxford University Press - USA (2009). ISBN 0195368681</ref>
:{{reflist}}
[[User:NRPanikker|NRPanikker]] ([[User talk:NRPanikker|talk]]) 17:14, 8 September 2010 (UTC)

Revision as of 10:27, 8 March 2011

Archive 1Archive 2Archive 3Archive 4

"artard"

I don't think that "artard" should redirect to this article. Doing so seems to imply that the word is a legitimate synonym for "retard", bypassing the fuller explanation of the word's origins.

Urban Dictionary's definition of artard: An inncorect way to spell /r/-tard which is a reference to certain people on the 4-chan boards. Referenced in South Park and correctly spelled if you had captions on. (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=artard)

"Artard" seems more appropriate to be directed to a page about 4-chan, or internet slang, or its own article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 147.226.172.193 (talk) 18:22, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

Can't believe this has stayed up for so long. I'll go ahead and tag it with RFD.  Aar  ►  01:59, 6 May 2009 (UTC)
I've yet to see it spelled this way. "R-tard" is the only satirical mispelling of this word that I've encountered. 12.71.155.26 (talk) 09:49, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

If the page is semiprotected, as it seems to be...

....could someone please add the {{sprotected2}} template to it? --128.12.103.70 (talk) 18:38, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

So let it be written, so let it be done. --Kbh3rdtalk 21:00, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
Thank you. I was very confused when I tried to revert a vandal and found that I couldn't, but there was no lock. --128.12.103.70 (talk) 02:27, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

NEWBORN METABOLIC SCREENING FOR METABOLIC DISORDERS THAT CAN CAUSE MENTAL RETARDATION Mental retardation is also caused by metabolic disorders at birth. It is required in most if not all states in the US that newborns be tested with metabolic screens, between 1-3 screens,after birth; newborns are tested for metabolic disorders like PKU. When newborns do have a metabolic disorder, if not treated immediately, they could easily become mentally retarded. Parents are required to sign a Refusal if they do not want their newborn tested for metabolic disorders.--- SEE ANY STATE WEBSITE for verification of newborn metabolic screens.

This article starts off with a prominent redirection from "Half-Wit." The computer whizz who placed it there explained (see Archive 1) his opinion that a half-wit was a person who was an idiot through being "sub normal" intelligence-wise. Do we really need to keep this link at the head of the article? NRPanikker (talk) 22:49, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

I think not. This article is rife with archane notions and errors - its basic definition of MR is at least 20 years out of date and unreferenced. Linking to terms such as half-wit is pointless, because the terms are far from equivalent. --Drmargi (talk) 12:47, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

Half-wit redirects to this article and the dab notice is necessary otherwise no one will find the House episode. Cburnett (talk) 23:37, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

I removed the mention of the redirect and also redirected Half-Wit to Half-Wit (House). I believe this solves everyone problems. I don't know about other cultures but in Australia the term is considered very insulting for a person with a mental disability. I don't believe it's an appropriate or necessary redirect. --Roobz (talk) 07:09, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Why the section on Archaic Terms?

Why long section on archaic terms... it seems unnecessarily insulting to give them so much prominence. Maybe a one-sentence mention but a whole section? --Calan (talk) 22:30, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

Censoring history because you find it unpleasant is a really horrible rationale for removing it. You should *add* to the article to "drown out" the prominence of such a section, not delete. Cburnett (talk) 22:59, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

Can we add an entry for "special"? - Denimadept (talk) 22:03, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

The heading "archaic terms" has been restored. Traditional does not accurately reflect the status of these terms in contemporary usage, particularly in the field where they are viewed as both highly archaic and highly pejorative. The link from Idiot has been fixed accordingly.

It may seem insulting to list these terms, but they are still out there, and if not discussed, will not be given appropriate treatment in the common parlance. The use of "retard" as an insult reflects the need for kids and adults alike to understand what is and isn't acceptable. Far better we discuss, and demystify these terms than try to pretend they don't exist. Special, on the other hand, is just a euphemism that's grown out of the use of "special education" and "special needs" in the schools, at least in the US. Drmargi (talk) 21:06, 4 August 2008 (UTC)


The word "retard" is used today as a derogatory term to refer to somebody or something that is stupid. Originally the verb from of the word according to the Oxford English Dictionary means to slow the progress of. In a neutral medical and legal context the noun retard developed in reference to the mentally disabled. The words “stupid” and “retarded” do not mean the same thing. People with mental handicaps acquire a lot of discrimination about being “stupid” when it is undeserving of them. In other situations where an offensive word is targeted at a specific group of people (labels), the targeted group is the first to speak up and protect themselves and to advocate for change. In this case, often the mentally retarded are unable to speak up for themselves, so it is very difficult to rid the American English language of the prevalence of the epithet and distinguish it from its medical/ legal context. On top of that the word is out there, everywhere! On the radio, TV, Music, The Internet. The R-word renaissance in pop culture has gone mainstream. It was the title of a Black-Eyed-Peas hit song, “Let’s get retarded”. According to Songfacts.com, the song was changed to “Let’s Get it Started” to become more marketable and acceptable for the radio. Before, the title was changed, the band played it to enormous congregations as “Let’s Get Retarded” since it is a fashionable term that is “chanted at clubs and dances and used in everyday slang” and “means to go crazy on the dance floor (synonyms are "Go Dumb," and "Get/Go Stupid.").” Millions of people listen to the song, which implies acceptance of the word and almost certainly, the word “retard” gains even more approval. There definitely is some advocacy for the mentally disabled who speak out against offensive labels and slander. Its just, there aren't enough, the advocacy efforts are not tallied in mass numbers. The most important and influential advocates in this case would be those who are the straight from the source: the mentally retarded. The Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC) of the United States is more outspoken about the derogatory use of the term “retard” in pop culture and the media. ARC was the group that objected to the Black Eyed Peas song “Let’s Get Retarded” mentioned prior and made sure it was changed to “Let’s Get It Started”.

"See Also"

Should "Flowers for Algernon" really be listed here? There are many fictional works about mental disabilities... why list just this one? The "see also" section has also been vandalized occasionally. —Preceding unsigned comment added by EverettP (talkcontribs) 04:17, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Deleted 'African American' from the see also list. That seemed a tad offensive...69.118.212.71 (talk) 18:10, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

'African American' is probably on that list because it is another group that is often stereotyped. JackSliceTalk Adds 22:46, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
No, it's sickening, indefensible racism. Abductive (reasoning) 00:08, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Standard Deviations for WAIS-III/WISC-IV, SB incorrect

I believe the SD's for the WAIS-III and WISC-IV (the most updated Wechsler tests used) are both 15. The Stanford-Binet is 16. I don't want to change it without someone else verifying this. The version of the test (III for the WAIS) should be identified as well. The discussion around the tests seems more than necessary for this topic too.

Last I looked it was 14 for the WAIS-III and WISC-IV, and 15 for the Stanford-Binet. The difference is inconsequential, either way since their all largely worthless. --Drmargi (talk) 05:47, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
1 sd = 15 on the WAIS, soon to be WAIS-IV--Vannin (talk) 02:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Both the WISC-IV and the Stanford-Binet V have a standard deviation of 15 points. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.66.95.235 (talk) 20:09, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Dangerous Editing

Contrary to what people think, Mental Retardation will begin with intelligence quotient of 67>below. Also, Wikipedia has been making VERY dangerous comment that connects Autism to Mental Retardation when in reality, studying and recent investigations that looked at Autism proved opposite, not mentioning Autism is NOT connected through MR! Listen close, because Wikipedia has mentioned the hints saying most Autistics require longer term cares and will never be independent! Wikipedia is a VERY dangerous information source for Autism AND for Mental Retardation, not mentioning the editors may have tendencies to create blocking devices for whoever the editors are thinking created problems in Wikipedia when the truth is opposite. And unfortunately my partners were among these people who fell victims to Wikipedia blocking by editors who are really hateful, prejudice and very contempting!

L2English. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.255.163.6 (talk) 15:37, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

mcmlxxxviii 10:33, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

If you've got a source for the lack of relation between MR and autism, then by all means. And, if you have any hard numbers on what proportion of autistics need long-term care, add them here and someone will change the article. I don't see how this makes Wikipedia "VERY dangerous".—Preceding unsigned comment added by [[User:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]] ([[User talk:{{{1}}}|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/{{{1}}}|contribs]])

While the OP's opinion goes further than mine, I must support him in that the articles on e.g. Autism and Asperger are prejudicial and do not match the opinions of the auties and aspies. Further, that attempts to improve this situation is usually met with a less than cooperative attitude.188.100.201.34 (talk) 00:05, 15 November 2009 (UTC)

"Triachic Disorder"

This word does not belong in the opening statement of this article. No one in the field uses this phrase, or even knows what it is supposed to mean. Sternberg's theory is simply his own theory, it is far from mainstream and has many critics. I edited this word out, but then somehow the page became locked. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.255.163.6 (talk) 15:27, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Add pictures!

Pretty please? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.217.40.128 (talk) 23:03, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Done, because you asked so nicely. --The High Commander (talk) 05:54, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

I have tidied up the external links section, removing links to sub-national organizations and sites where notability is not established. I have also corrected the names of the linked organizations. In particular, please note that the name of The Arc is "The Arc" or "The Arc of the United States." It was originally called the Association of Retarded Children, but that is no longer its name. It has never been called the "Association of Retarded Citizens". - EronTalk 02:19, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

There are both Associations of Retarded Children and Associations for Retarded Citizens.--The High Commander (talk) 03:21, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
There were two Arc links in the external links section. This one is to The Arc of the United States. There is nothing on that site to indicate that its current name is anything but The Arc. This one is to The Arc of Florida. Again, there is nothing on the site to indicate that its current name is anything different. (And, as the organization is subsidiary to The Arc of the United States, I've deleted it as an unnecessary link.) - EronTalk 03:28, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

Block?

I can't help but wonder why this isn't blocked. It's a major subject about a thing that is mocked (unfortunantly)in our culture. i vote for a lock on this article. --Mackilicious (talk) 20:04, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

Blaming youth

There are multiple points in this article (the very first paragraph and in the intro to the arcane terms section) where youth and teenagers are blamed for being the primary users of derogatory words. I don't see anything in the article that validates this claim. As well, it's most likely true that teenagers are the primary users of slang of any type, so if they do in fact use these terms more than other age deographics then that's the reason more likely than any teenaged tendency to pick on this suffering from mental retardation, which is what this article begins to suggest. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Darth Wombat (talkcontribs) 04:10, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

You have an entirely valid point, Wombat: young people are demonised enough, and I'm sure there are people of all age-groups who trade insults this way. Unless anyone raises an objection, I think you're justified in changing/removing such references Dom Kaos (talk) 22:33, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

no objections after a month - so I've removed those references Dom Kaos (talk) 02:26, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Well said —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.150.158.124 (talk) 15:42, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Use as offensive term?

should their be something about the way 'retard' is used in an offense way. The article on spastic seems to have said a lot about this and has a reference saying that retard is considered more offensive

The current connotations of the word are well-illustrated by a BBC survey in 2003, which found that "spastic" was the second most offensive term in the UK relating to disability (retard was deemed most offensive) [2]. In 2007, Lynne Murphy, a linguist at the University of Sussex, described the term as being "one of the most taboo insults to a British ear".[1] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.202.159.229 (talk) 22:46, 4 February 2009 (UTC)


This is one of those pages which tempts people to add links to external organisations. Although certain large, internationally significant agencies may warrant having links from this page, there is the danger that everybody will start posting links to local groups. There are probably thousands of organisations around the world involved in this field, and Wikipedia simply isn't the place to list them all: this is, after all, an encyclopedia page, not a directory or link farm. I have removed one such link, which was also posted on several other pages related to disability rights and empowerment: I think that before anyone adds any similar links, they need to ask themselves whether the organisation in question stands out from all the other countless agencies in the world and is internationally significant. If not, any such posting may well breach Wikipedia's guidelines on spam. Dom Kaos (talk) 17:59, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

They can't learn

Should we add in the article how people that are mentally retarded can't learn? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.86.226.37 (talk) 17:12, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Only if it were true. Which it isn't. - EronTalk 04:04, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

They can learn, and they do learn, but (as an example) someone with a retardation would learn what we learned at the age of four at the age of thirty —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.83.96.32 (talk) 13:36, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Cognitive impairment

Cognitive impairment points here. As I followed that link from mental confusion, I didn't expect it to be related to mental retardation. Should cognitive impairment point to cognitive dysfunction instead, or is it commonly thought of as a synonym for retardation? Perhaps a dab would be an option. WnC? 19:52, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

As nobody seems to have had any thoughts on this, I looked at what linked to cognitive impairment. Since none of those pages seemed to be about mental retardation, I changed the redir to cognitive dysfunciton instead. WnC? 18:27, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

Move page

Surely NPOV means this page should be moved to a less offensive term...?andycjp (talk) 04:12, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

It's a diagnostic label, and is not used to be offensive - see above discussions --Vannin (talk) 17:10, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

Leading Causes of Mental Retardation

This section needs more references, and may be inaccurate. Information on prevelence and incidence for each of the causes of mental retardation would be very helpful. To get you started:

The leading cause of mental retardation in the USA accoring to the CDC [1] is Fetal Alcohol syndrome, with prevalence rates ranging from 0.2 to 1.5 per 1,000 births. This approximates that up to 1 in 667 births in the USA results from fetal alcohol syndrome, a conservative statistic considering that fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, which can result in mental retardation, and are three times more common than fetal alcohol syndrome, are not included in this statistic. Fetal Alcohol syndrome causing mental retadation is 100% preventable.

The number 2 cause of mental retardation in the USA may be CMV infection. According to the CDC, the incidence of cytomegalovirus CMV infection affects 1 in 750 births. Congenital infection commonly causes mental retardation; it is known to be the number one cause of infectious mental retardation. Although CMV infection may have relatively nonspecific and minor symptoms in a pregnant mother, the results on the fetus can be devestating. Because of the vague symptoms in an adult, many CMV infections go undiagnosed, and this can account for a proportion of the mental retardation cases with no known attributable factor. [2]. Precautions can be taken to screen for and reduce the chance of CMV infection during pregnancy.

Down syndrome, according to the CDC, would then rank as the number 3 cause of mental retardation in the USA with an incidence of 1 in 800 births.[3] It is interesting to note, however, that a recent study in the USA calculated pregnancy termination with findings of Down Syndrome at rates of 72.9%, reaching up to 90% in the USA (see citations below and the Wiki citations in Down's syndrome Ethical issues for references). It is approximated at 92% in the UK. This indicates that the genetic frequency of Down Syndrome would actually be much more prevelant in the population, certainly more frequent than 1 in 800 births, if it were not for in utero intervention. [4]. [5]

[6] The prevalence of mental retardation was estimated to be 1 in 83 amongst all 8 year olds in Atlanta in 2000, which may or may not be indicative of the entire nation. Despite what may seem like a low probability of having an infant afflicted with Down syndrome (1 in 800) or Fragile X syndrome (1 in 4000 in males, 1 in 6000-8000 females) [7] the overall prevelance of a child having mental retardation is quite high and common.

76.198.137.52 (talk) 23:45, 22 June 2009 (UTC) Emily G

"Sub-Average"?

Note the text in the beginning--it refers to "sub-average" cognitive function. But that's quite false--"average" is the 50th percentile, and mental retardation doesn't actually start until something like the 3rd percentile. Wouldn't it make more sense to say "significantly delayed" or something along those lines? Simply being below average is still quite a long way from cognitive disability.--24.164.85.127 (talk) 00:53, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

Image

It was listed for deletion i had to put it somewhere!! Daniel Christensen (talk) 17:10, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

update request: genetic causes

{{editsemiprotected}}

Please could someone add the following to the section "Causes" before the sentence "In the rarest of cases,...":

..., and Siderius type X-linked mental retardation (Template:OMIM6) as caused by mutations in the PHF8 gene ((Template:OMIM6).[8][9]

21user (talk) 13:45, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

 Done Welcome and thanks for contributing. Celestra (talk) 17:54, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Archaic terms POV

The section "Archaic terms" is highly POV. I note for instance that the author takes a condescending hyper-PC standpoint, e.g. by statements like

There have been some efforts made among mental health professionals to discourage use of these terms. Nevertheless their use persists.

Further, that the section is US centric, e.g. through statements like

Today, the term "retarded" is slowly being replaced by new words like "special" or "challenged."

Some statements, e.g.

There are competing desires among elements of society, some of whom seek neutral medical terms, and others who want to use such terms as weapons with which to abuse people.

are more or less inexcusable. Not only is this example of highly dubious truth (outside of elementary school yards), it is also a cheap rhetorical attack on those who would rather have the process of euphemism treadmills and political correctness (in the sarcastic sense) stopped.

(The article is edit protected, and I am not able to improve this on my own.) 188.100.201.34 (talk) 00:20, 15 November 2009 (UTC)

The American Psychiatric Association has not released its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders into public domain, but claims copyright. The Wikimedia Foundation has received a letter of complaint (Ticket:2010030910040817, for those with access) about the use of their diagnostic criteria in this and a number of other articles. Currently, this content is blanked pending investigation, which will last approximately one week. Please feel free to provide input at the copyright problems board listing during that time. Individuals with access to the books would be particularly welcome in helping to conduct the investigation. Assistance developing a plan to prevent misuse of the APA's material on Wikipedia projects would also be welcome. Thank you. Moonriddengirl (talk) 14:23, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

An uninvolved contributor with access to the book finds no duplication of content. The article has been restored pending specific identification of problematic text by the correspondent. --Moonriddengirl (talk) 15:54, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

developmentally challenged

Could someone add that one in an appropriate place. plse.? It's a common designation. I don't know enough to DIY this. THKS 99.11.160.111 (talk) 06:02, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

I have posted a bibliography of Intelligence Citations for the use of all Wikipedians who have occasion to edit articles on human intelligence and related issues. I happen to have circulating access to a huge academic research library at a university with an active research program in those issues (and to another library that is one of the ten largest public library systems in the United States) and have been researching these issues since 1989. You are welcome to use these citations for your own research and to suggest new sources to me by comments on that page. -- WeijiBaikeBianji (talk) 19:27, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Citation for IQ range chart?

In the context of this article, is anyone citation-checking the chart showing IQ ranges with different labels in the below-100 range of scores? The chart that is now in the article is contrary both to sources that I have at hand (which I am using at the moment to edit other Wikipedia articles) and to the sourced parts of the article text. If no one can confirm that chart it would be best to delete the chart from section in which it is included. For articles like this that have medical implications, it is especially important to rely on reliable sources for medicine-related articles. -- WeijiBaikeBianji (talk) 15:54, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

The Intelligence Quotient Citation

Whether IQ was actually scientifically valid anymore or not, the first website cited is NOT a valid source.

http://www.2h.com/about-this-site.html

It's just a collection of online IQ Tests and conjecture by the web authour. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.236.173.157 (talk) 18:47, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from Tkeys95, 21 August 2010

{{editsemiprotected}} I would like to request that the page titled 'Mental Retardation' and all like terms on this page would be changed to 'Intellectual Disability'. This statement is no longer politically correct and no longer accepted in society. All appropriate organisations and developed governments now refer to these disorders as Intellectual Disabilities. It is offending to many viewers and educates many people wrongly about the disability.

Tkeys95 (talk) 05:24, 21 August 2010 (UTC)

 Not done Consensus in the past has deemed that political correctness is no reason to change the name of an article. Numrous examples from this page's archives include this discussion. Thanks, Stickee (talk) 06:00, 21 August 2010 (UTC)

"cretin"

I think further research may reveal that this word does not come from the French for 'christian' but is actually derived from the word 'Crete', which is an island near Greece. People from one region usually use the natives of neighbouring regions as the butt of jokes about stupidity. Greece also used Beotians, and in some languages 'beotian' is a synonym for 'idiot'. It may well be the case of 'cretin'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.27.93.39 (talk) 22:48, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

The question of the original meaning of "cretin" may be illuminated by the following anecdote, lifted from the Wikipedia page about the composer Moritz Moszkowski, which tends to support the former use of "Christian" as a collective term for people with disabilities:

Moritz Moszkowski once underscribed an autograph book which had been previously inscribed by the great German conductor, virtuoso pianist and composer Hans von Bülow, who had written the following words: "The three greatest composers are Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. All the others are cretins." When Moszkowski saw this, he added underneath: "The three greatest composers are Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer and Moszkowski. All the others are Christians!"[10]
  1. ^ http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fas/fassurv.htm
  2. ^ http://www.cdc.gov/cmv/pregnancy.htm
  3. ^ http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/bd/ds.htm,
  4. ^ (Community Genet. 2007;10(4):227-30.Related Articles, Association of ultrasound findings with decision to continue Down syndrome pregnancies. Perry S, Woodall AL, Pressman EK. Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.)Caroline Mansfield, Suellen Hopfer, Theresa M. Marteau (1999)
  5. ^ "Termination rates after prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, spina bifida, anencephaly, and Turner and Klinefelter syndromes: a systematic literature review". Prenatal Diagnosis 19 (9): 808–812. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0223(199909)19:9<808::AID-PD637>3.0.CO;2-B. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/65500197/ABSTRACT. PMID 10521836 .
  6. ^ http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dd/mr3.htm,
  7. ^ http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/single_gene/fragilex.htm,
  8. ^ Siderius LE, Hamel BC, van Bokhoven H; et al. (2000). "X-linked mental retardation associated with cleft lip/palate maps to Xp11.3-q21.3". Am. J. Med. Genet. 85 (3): 216–220. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1096-8628(19990730)85:3<216::AID-AJMG6>3.0.CO;2-X. PMID 10398231. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Laumonnier F, Holbert S, Ronce N; et al. (2005). "Mutations in PHF8 are associated with X linked mental retardation and cleft lip/cleft palate". J. Med. Genet. 42 (10): 780–786. doi:10.1136/jmg.2004.029439. PMID 16199551. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Alan Walker Hans Von Bülow: A Life and Times pg. 289, Oxford University Press - USA (2009). ISBN 0195368681

NRPanikker (talk) 17:14, 8 September 2010 (UTC)