THE CHANGING CONCEPTION OF MENTAL-RETARDATION - IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FIELD

The 1992 American Association on Mental Retardation's (AAMR) definitio n and classification of mental retardation is different from the previ ous classification system in that: (a) a single diagnostic code of men tal retardation is used if the person meets the three criteria of age of onset (18 or under), significantly subaverage abilities in intellec tual functioning, and related limitations in two or more adaptive skil ls areas; (b) the person's strengths and weaknesses are described in r eference to four dimensions: intellectual functioning and adaptive ski lls; psychological and emotional well-being; health, physical well-bei ng, and etiology; and life activity environments; and (c) a profile of needed supports is developed across the four dimensions. In this arti cle we discussed six major implications of the 1992 System for the fie ld of mental retardation.