Activists Protest Agency Name

Activists Protest Agency Name
By Hilary Chabot
The Boston Globe
Valentine's Day 2/15/00

Holding seven signs that spelled the word ''RESPECT'' and wearing waterproof ponchos over 'Change This Name'' T-shirts, about 20 protesters withstood gusting winds and drizzle yesterday to protest the name of the Department of Mental Retardation.

Four members of The Peace Abbey, a local grassroots organization, were arrested after they handcuffed themselves to the front gate of the State House, shouting through a bullhorn that the name is insulting and archaic.

Agency spokeswoman Donna Rheame said that the name is a clinical definition, although she acknowledged that some have grown uncomfortable with the term. She said that there is ''an active, ongoing discussion concerning changing the name'' but that agency staff members must reach a consensus first.

Protest supporter Susan Bailey, whose 29-year-old daughter is developmentally disabled, says she has become acutely aware of the negative connotations that go along with the term ''retarded.''

''It is not a neutral description,'' Bailey said. ''It's a loaded word.''

But Rheame said the name change would require legislative action, and that that won't happen until everyone concerned - the agency's staff, its clients, and families - can agree upon the change.

''Some stakeholders believe that a name change would not be in their best interest right now because it may lead to less resources available for people with mental retardation,'' Rheame said.

Still, Bailey and other protesters maintain that the terminology is long outdated and infringes on the privacy of mentally retarded clients by exposing their diagnosis.

''It's very important that a department exists that focuses on the needs of these individuals,'' Bailey said. ''By using the diagnosis in the name of the department, it's implying that privacy is not an issue for the department's clients.''

Advocates of the name change have cited the states of New Hampshire and South Carolina, which have found acceptable alternatives. However, both states renamed their agencies only after policy changes that required the department to take on a broader title.

The Peace Abbey at Strawberry Fields
Two North Main Street, Sherborn, Massachusetts 01770
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