President Obama signed “Rosa’s Law” on October 5, 2010. The legislation changes references in federal law from mental retardation to intellectual disability. It also promotes people-first language by changing references to a mentally retarded individual to an individual with an intellectual disability.
The law is named for nine-year old Rosa Marcellino of Maryland , who has Down syndrome. Her mother, Nina Marcellino, explains why their family advocated for the change: “I think the term, for most people, just carries with it memories of a time when this population was really disrespected. It’s a term that needed to go with that whole period of our history.”
Rosa’s Law is similar to New YorkState’s People First Language Bill that was signed into law on August 1, 2007. Several graduates of The Advocacy Center’s Partners in Policymaking Program helped write and advocated for passage of the People First Language Bill.
Rosa’s brother Nick testified last year to the Maryland legislature about what use of the term retarded means to him. He said, “On any given day, at school, at the mall, on a sports field, me and my sisters hear: ‘That’s so retarded,’ or ‘You’re such a retard.’ Even good kids use the word, not realizing they’re talking about my sister. When you think about it, what you call people is how you treat people.”
More on Rosa’s Law can be viewed at http://www.specialolympics.org/rosas-law.aspx
Rosas law (PDF 164.59 Kb)
