Why is it that the folks that are mentally challenged have equally …uhh…retarded…names as well?
The bagger at the local store, a likeable Mentally Challenged guy in his mid thirties, is named Melvin. Yeah, it is an older guy that was named before el trendy names came along, but Melvin? Nice guy too.
The female bagger next to him is equally goofily named ahem Shirley.
Then there are the identical twins who work at Costco: Larry and Gary. And to complete the hat trick with a bonus round, they have a brother Jerry and a sister Mary.
There are a few others whom I cannot recall their names as I write this, but they are the older out of circulation-for-a-reason kinda name. (Clarence, is one that I can remember. Yikes.)
Have you noticed this or is our area a magnet for this phenom?
My developmentally challenged uncle’s name is Chester. Now that’s not a sharp name at all! There’s actually a reason for it. The reason for his disability is he was born very prematurely and his parents, my grandparents, didn’t think he would live so they didn’t want to waste the name they had chosen so they named him after my grandfather even though they knew his name was goofy. Not a very heartwarming story, is it?
My mother’s 58-y/o sister is mentally handicapped. Her name is Monica. I consider that to be a perfectly nice name, political connections notwithstanding.
The janitorial and landscaping staff here is from the local county association of the retarded (their official name - really) and I don’t see their names as being any different from any others here. Maybe it’s all in what you consider to be unusual names?
I am personally acquainted with a nice young woman who has (I think a rather mild case of) Down syndrome. Her parents named her Noel because she was born during Yuletide. Goofy? I think not.
My mom the school psychologist … er … “psychoeducational consultant” reports that in Toronto the currently acceptable term is no longer “Cognitively disadvantaged” but “cognitively challenged” (I think they finally gave up “child with special needs” because it was entirely too vague).
I think just about every person with Down Syndrome I’ve ever known was named Charlie. Not Bob or Tom or Fred, or even Charles or Chuck, but Charlie. Is there some rule out there that says babies born with Down Syndrome have to be named Charlie?
I hate the way film and teevee indicate ‘retarded dude’ by having the actor wear a cardigan. I understand many are dressed by their parents or carers but . . . cardigans ??
Don’t get me started on the short-back-and-sides hair . . .
I’m no expert, but is it possible that developmentally delayed children have been born more often to parents who are older in age, thus giving more occurence for developmental problems?
An older age parent would have grown up accustomed to what we might consider more generic names. If this is so, perhaps we will see the trend start to change in the future?
To me, to be cognitvely challenged seems to be prerequisite for a strong, flexible intellect. It’s a desirable and even essential part of life from cradle to grave. Someone whose cognition has never been challenged is destined to be cognitively challenged. Developmentally delayed is not much better. It implies the person with the disorder is some kind of late bloomer but if they are in paid employment and still being labelled that way, it’s safe to say they’ve bloomed as much as they’re going to. Scrounging for new, inoffensive euphemisms everytime the old one gathers too much baggage for its loadedness does nothing to counter the prejudice these people encounter. Torontonian psychoeducational consultants should have stuck with intellectually retarded.
