Montgomery County, Ohio - Commission Updates

November 10, 2009 the commissioners heard a presentation announcing that the Department of Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities (MRDD) has been changed to Developmental Disabilities Services (DDS). Mark Gerhardstein, Superintendent of the Montgomery County Board of DDS, explained that the term "Mental Retardation" has been removed from the title of state and county entities at the request of individuals with developmental disabilities because "retardation" has become an offensive term. S.B. 79 officially changed the name of the department at the state level. Rubin Garcia, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, was an advocate for the name change and the use of "People First Language (PFL) which represents more respectful, accurate ways of communicating. People with disabilities are not their diagnoses or disabilities; they are people, first.