House Resolution 17 - Introduced HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 17 BY HEDDENS , HEATON , SCHULTE , and M. SMITH A Resolution recognizing Wednesday, March 2, 2011, as 1 “Spread the Word to End the Word” day of awareness 2 in Iowa and encouraging the American Medical 3 Association, the American Psychiatric Association, 4 and kindred organizations to utilize the term 5 “intellectual disability” for clinical purposes. 6 WHEREAS, the terms “mental retardation” and 7 “mentally retarded”, originally introduced as medical 8 terms, have evolved in today’s society to be used 9 as hate speech to degrade and insult persons with 10 intellectual disabilities; and 11 WHEREAS, “Spread the Word to End the Word” is an 12 ongoing effort by Special Olympics and Best Buddies 13 International to raise the consciousness of society 14 about the dehumanizing and hurtful effects of using 15 terms based on the word “retarded” and encourage 16 cessation of the use of such terms; and 17 WHEREAS, the effort to build awareness would be 18 greatly advanced if the American Medical Association, 19 the American Psychiatric Association, and kindred 20 organizations act to replace the use of terms based 21 on the word “retarded” with the use of terms based 22 on the words “intellectual disabilities” for clinical 23 purposes; and 24 WHEREAS, promoting the use of respectful and 25 inclusive language is essential to acknowledging the 26 dignity and humanity of persons with intellectual 27 disabilities; NOW THEREFORE, 28 -1- LSB 2714HH (7) 84 jp/nh 1/ 2

H.R. 17 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF 1 REPRESENTATIVES, That the House of Representatives 2 proclaims and recognizes Wednesday, March 2, 2011, as 3 “Spread the Word to End the Word” day of awareness in 4 Iowa; and 5 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That all Iowans are 6 encouraged to declare support for their fellow Iowans 7 with intellectual disabilities by spreading the word to 8 end the word on March 2, 2011, and thereafter; and 9 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Medical 10 Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and 11 kindred organizations are encouraged to replace the use 12 of terms based on the word “retarded” with the use of 13 terms based on the words “intellectual disabilities” 14 for clinical purposes. 15 -2- LSB 2714HH (7) 84 jp/nh 2/ 2