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Yearbook in trouble

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LuckyLeprechaun
LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
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High school yearbook is recalled because someone used "blind, deaf and mentally retarded" as a description for two special ed students.


http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/high-school-yearbooks-labeled-special-needs-students-mentally-131931649.html

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  • macpatti
    macpatti Posts: 4,280 Member
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    "An oversight in the editing process"???? Looks like the school should find a new yearbook editor.
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,344 Member
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    I am confused, were they mentally retarded? Because if they weren't then MAJOR PROBLEM, but if they were then the only issue here is that it isn't 50 years ago when mentally retarded was the proper usage. The words Mentally handicapped and Mentally retarded are interchangeable................................time and history being the only variable. Wait is Mentally handicapped still ok? What the heck are we calling it now? I'm gonna catch **** for this aren't I?
  • macpatti
    macpatti Posts: 4,280 Member
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    In my opinion, Emmy, they should not have released a diagnosis at all. They should have just said, "Learning differences". If they're going to use the medically diagnosed term of "mentally retarded", then they should have listed ALL specific diagnoses, like autism, Tourrette's Syndrome, etc. It kinda read like there were deaf and blind kids plus mentally retarded kids. That's like lumping all the others together. No?
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,344 Member
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    In my opinion, Emmy, they should not have released a diagnosis at all. They should have just said, "Learning differences". If they're going to use the medically diagnosed term of "mentally retarded", then they should have listed ALL specific diagnoses, like autism, Tourrette's Syndrome, etc. It kinda read like there were deaf and blind kids plus mentally retarded kids. That's like lumping all the others together. No?

    I can agree with that
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
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    I am confused, were they mentally retarded? Because if they weren't then MAJOR PROBLEM, but if they were then the only issue here is that it isn't 50 years ago when mentally retarded was the proper usage. The words Mentally handicapped and Mentally retarded are interchangeable................................time and history being the only variable. Wait is Mentally handicapped still ok? What the heck are we calling it now? I'm gonna catch **** for this aren't I?
    I totally agree with you.

    Also, when I was in school, the yearbook was created, edited and RUN by students. Not staff.
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,720 Member
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    Here's my thing.. it's a yearbook. Why do they have to say ANY of that? You put pics of kids up and what grade they're in. End of f'ing story. You wanna start adding in descriptions of people and their capabilities you are opening yourself up to all sorts of needless hassles.
  • macpatti
    macpatti Posts: 4,280 Member
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    Also, when I was in school, the yearbook was created, edited and RUN by students. Not staff.
    Maybe you didn't realize it, but a faculty member has to oversee the school papers and yearbooks before they head to printing. Someone at the school should be held responsible for the oversight.
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
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    Here's my thing.. it's a yearbook. Why do they have to say ANY of that? You put pics of kids up and what grade they're in. End of f'ing story. You wanna start adding in descriptions of people and their capabilities you are opening yourself up to all sorts of needless hassles.

    True, but then again they need to make use of lots of space fillers. After all at $50 a pop, I want more than just pics and names. :wink:
  • skinnywithin
    skinnywithin Posts: 1,392 Member
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    WHY DID THEY HAVE TO BE LABELED ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE NAME THEY WERE BORN WITH
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
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    We label people all the time.

    I'm sure in that very same yearbook, there is a page dedicated to the cheerleaders. That's their label.

    As recently as 2004, getting my own Bachelor's in Education, we were taught that MR is one of the appropriate diagnoses for a special ed student.

    I don't think that info should have been in the yearbook, because wouldn't HIPAA have something to say about disclosing someone's diagnosis?
  • macpatti
    macpatti Posts: 4,280 Member
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    If the yearbook was labeling a specific class like, "The Learning Resource Center for Students with Learning Differences", then fine. But having a picture of two students and saying they are, "blind deaf and mentally retarded" is horrible, regardless if it is a true medical diagnosis. Not sure if HIPAA applies to schools as well as health care professionals, though.
  • KimmyEB
    KimmyEB Posts: 1,208 Member
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    If the yearbook was labeling a specific class like, "The Learning Resource Center for Students with Learning Differences", then fine. But having a picture of two students and saying they are, "blind deaf and mentally retarded" is horrible, regardless if it is a true medical diagnosis. Not sure if HIPAA applies to schools as well as health care professionals, though.

    I completely agree with all of this. There is no reason that that sort of information about them should have been made. In all of the schools I've ever attended, the special education students were put in with everyone else. There were no "defining" things about it--if you were a senior, you were put into the senior section. Juniors with juniors, sophomores with sophomores, freshman with freshman, etc. Actually, the only people who really had a separate area were the foreign exchange students, since their "grades" weren't the same as ours, so they couldn't be easily placed.
  • CasperO
    CasperO Posts: 2,913 Member
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    MR-DD (Mentally Retarded - Developmentally Delayed) is still the correct clinical diagnosis.

    So,,, what else could we get in there? If we're going to start giving health status reports you're going to need a bigger yearbook.

    "Illustration, Opposite page - Mr. Smith (nearsighted, 45 lbs overweight, raging case of hemorrhoids) is shown discussing the upcoming spring concert with Ms Jone (Genital herpes). Class president Tim Baker (severe acne, webbed toes) looks on".

    Do we really want to go there? Probably didn't need to be said.
  • KimmyEB
    KimmyEB Posts: 1,208 Member
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    MR-DD (Mentally Retarded - Developmentally Delayed) is still the correct clinical diagnosis.

    So,,, what else could we get in there? If we're going to start giving health status reports you're going to need a bigger yearbook.

    "Illustration, Opposite page - Mr. Smith (nearsighted, 45 lbs overweight, raging case of hemorrhoids) is shown discussing the upcoming spring concert with Ms Jone (Genital herpes). Class president Tim Baker (severe acne, webbed toes) looks on".

    Do we really want to go there? Probably didn't need to be said.

    Exactly!

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