What did the President's Committee on Mental Retardation mean when they used the term, the "six-hour retarded child" in their 1970 report? What does this suggest for educators today?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer:
(a) The PCMR in 1970 focused on the fact that children from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds were being disproportionately identified as having intellectual disabilities, despite the fact that their adaptive behavior in their homes and neighborhoods did not appear to differ from others in those environments. It seemed as if these children developed their intellectual disabilities only between the hours of 9:00-3:00, that is, during school hours, hence the term six-hour retarded child. The PCMR questioned whether such youngsters actually had intellectual disabilities or if it was instead an artifact of a school environment that was not a good match for the learners' abilities. They suggested that more appropriate
(b) Based on the findings of this research group, educators today are advised to use many different assessment methods and instruments to assess the nature of a learner's functional deficits and to determine if an intellectual disability is actually present. Such assessments would include investigation of the learner's functioning in non-school environments including the home and community. Adaptive behavior must be assessed over the conceptual, social, and practical domains with the goal of determining the intensities of supports needed.