Rosa’s Law finally reaches the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) regulations. On July 11, 2017, the IDEA regulations were revised to change the term mental retardation (MR) to intellectual disabilities (ID). This significant change started with a family in Edgewater, Maryland who would not allow the “R” word to be used in the home. When the family learned the school wanted to label Rosa with MR, they took action. Rosa’s brother, Nick, could not of said it better when he testified at a hearing stating, “What you call people is how you treat them. What you call my sister is how you will treat her. If you believe she’s ‘retarded,’ it invites taunting, stigma. It invites bullying and it also invites the slammed doors of being treated with respect and dignity.”
On October 5, 2010, President Obama signed Rosa’s Law creating legislation requiring the federal government to replace the “r” word with intellectual disability.
You can find a copy of the revised IDEA regulations here. The regulations become effective on August 10, 2017.
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