Learning Disabilities

[bednobs]

what was the name for people with learning disabilities before it was changed to learning disabilities? (around 80's 90's i think)

[Barmaid]

Educationally Sub Normal or ESN.

[Prudie]

I certainly knew it as ESN (educationally sub-normal).

[slaney]

Mental handicap...
http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/general-learning-disability

[anneasquith]

I agree.. mental handicap.

[Prudie]

I disagree - mentally handicapped was used to describe a completely different person from one labelled ESN. Maybe it's our different perception, I'm looking at it from my teaching days (when remedial meant something else again, slow I guess). I'd be interested to hear what bednobs thought it was.

[woofgang]

It went..moron (yes really), ESN, Mental handicap, then learning difficulty or learning disability.

[woofgang]

I trained in the NHS and part of my training was about birth defect disabilities.

spastic and moron used to be medical terms.

[sherrardk]

It's currently special educational needs (but this covers people who are deemed to have problems and people who are gifted) - no one is just stupid or clever anymore.

[Barmaid]

I was just looking up similar terms Woofgang. Pre-dating that we also had idiot, lunatic, imbecile, feeble minded and morally defective. All of which are now considered offensive.

[slaney]

Yes, ESN dates from 1945 until the Warnock report 1978.

[EDDIE51]

The Spastics society was a well known and respected charity for many years.
If shopped at the Co-op you could use the 'spastics number' so that the charity got your 'divi' and very many people did.

[pixie373]

Barnado's used to be called a "home for waifs and strays"

[Ann]

We had a Home for Spastics in our local area.

[naomi24]

I think the term 'spastic' was something entirely different. That implied physical as well as mental difficulties. 'Backward' is the term I remember - and those kids were in the remedial class.

[Prudie]

I do have a vague memory that the logo for the Spastics Society was a child in calipers.

[woofgang]

Naomi, that may be my fault for going off topic. i mentioned "spastic" as another example of a word that had been a medical term and how it had fallen out of use and become unnacceptable.

[sandyRoe]

Was Ian Dury trying to reclaim the word 'spastic' when he wrote, 'Spasticus autisticus'?

[sherrardk]

Isn't it interesting how perceptions change with age/experience. Special needs used to mean (to me) people with learning problems, stupid people even. Thing 2 is on the special educational needs register yet he is almost precociously clever, yet thing 1 (who is 'special') doesn't get any extra help.