When I was younger they were just called retarded. When did retarded get changed to Autistic?

[Anonymous]

I can't remember when I first heard the term "autistic". Some I'm just curious when the term got changed from retarded to autistic.

[Effably]

It is kind of a misconception and wrongly used term.

Mental retardation (MR), or whatever more polite term we use for it, is not prevalent in the majority of autistic people. Historically these numbers would be higher as the criteria was basically having a psychologist of some sort say "Yep, kid dumb.". Since that was changed to require actual testing, IQ testing etc, the numbers changed tremendously.

So basically it isn't changed. Autistic behaviour is often linked to being mentally challenged but does not in itself equal retardation.

Parents with a mentally challenged kid would likely prefer to call it autism rather than that their kid is of low intelligence. So well, it is like how curvy which really is to describe an hourglass-like figure is now synonymous with overweight. Some words get adapted by different crowds even if it isn't what they mean.

Anyhow. Autism does not equal MR. It may or may not be more prevalent than average but there isn't much research on that which is up to a basic standard.

[NamerOfStars]

Well said!

[FriendlyDrugDealer]

Well it’s a vague term and usually associated with derogatory remarks throughout history. Due to psychology studies and research, it’s not that simple to label someone as “retartded” because there’s levels to it and different variations of mental disorders.


Another example, calling someone crazy is too simplistic to analyze someone, they could be suffering from bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, totally two different conditions.

[Andres77]

As the medical community learned more about the spectrum it has morphed it's vocabulary. Asperger's used to be a thing. Now it's something else.
It continues to change over time because they're still learning new things... so the term "settled science" is a lie in every corner of the scientific and medical world because they're constantly changing stuff... almost daily.

[Twalli]

Aspergers still is a thing DSM 5 decided that all Autism Spectrum disorders should be classified as autism with varying levels of severity. That doesn't mean Aspergers no longer exists. I have it. It's just that official diagnoses can't document it now. Yet if you have it, your doctor will tell you.

[Andres77]

@Twalli that's what I meant, changing of the words used to describe it

[Tomsta]

You are comparing apples to oranges. Asd has many different symptoms and dont always imply that someone is retarded

Mental retardation is a separate diagnosis that might be diagnosed along other issues

But to answer your question mental health is being investgated more thoroughly than in previous generations so there is more that is understood and there is less stigma and generic labelling

[Twalli]

Well there's different levels of autism and mental retardation and autism are different in multiple ways. For example I am autistic (as per DSM 5), but I went to a regular school and graduated with a BA from college, which some neurotypical people fail to do. If that's retarded, I prefer that to not being retarded.

[Anonymous]

There are different levels of autism.

I’m autistic. I’m intelligent, but as a kid and in my late teens I was socially retarded. I learned eventually how to read social situations and improved my social skills to the point where if you met me in person you’d probably have no idea.

On the other end there are those who can’t get through their day to day lives without help.

[AviatorTom]

The term "retarded" was used to refer to people with Down's Syndrome. Autism is a completely different condition.