Joel Julien
What's in a name? "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet," Juliet Capulet told Romeo Montague in the popular William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet.
But when you see the name the Trinidad and Tobago Association for Retarded Children (TTARC) do you get a stench or a sweet aroma from it?
Are you offended by the use of the word "retarded"?
Well, president of the TTARC Howard Sabga understands if you are.
And as such Sabga and the TTARC board have been working to change the name of the association to one that has a more sweet-smelling savour.
However, it is a process that cannot be done overnight.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word "retarded" is an adjective that is "sometimes offensive".
The definition of the word is "slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development: characterised by mental retardation".
The first known use of the word was in 1895.
The TTARC has not been around as long as the word, but the association has a rich history.
It was formed years before T&T became an independent country, and was eventually incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1961.
The TTARC was formed by Lady Thelma Hochoy, the wife of this country's first Governor-General Solomon Hochoy.
At that time awareness of special persons was on the upswing in the United States of America, and so when Milton Niles an official of ALCOA was assigned to this country, his wifem Rose Niles, was curious to find out what facilities and services were available here, Sabga said.
Together Lady Hochoy and Rose Miles visited the House of Refuge and what they witnessed prompted them to begin the work of establishing a residence to cater specially for children with severe intellectual difficulties, he said.
The Lady Hochoy Home, Cocorite became the first residential home in the Eastern Caribbean to cater to the needs of persons with intellectual disabilities.
In 1972, Lady Hochoy won the Public Service Medal of Merit Gold for her work with the TTARC.
The TTARC is now the umbrella body for the Lady Hochoy homes in North, South, Arima, and Penal as well as the Memisa Centre.
When the Association was formed the term mental retardation was the diagnostic term denoting the group of disconnected categories of mental functioning, Sabga said.
"The terminology was, unfortunately, the call of the day in terms of recognising issues with challenged persons, in today's world it is a hurtful phrase but it was the language that was spoken back then," he said.
"In fact it was even worse the teachings back then they called mentally challenged persons idiots, imbeciles and morons, this was some of the wording that was used and it is very disheartening, but I don't think they were used in a derogatory manner but it was just the language that was spoken then," he said.
When the TTARC advertised its Annual General Meeting at the end of November the association's name came in for scrutiny on social media.
A petition was also created calling for the name to be changed.
Sabga said he understood some of the uproar caused by the association's name and specifically the use of the word "retarded" and advised that the TTARC is working to correct the situation.
"We have not been sleeping on it we are definitely alive and doing what needs to be done," Sabga said.
In order the change the TTARC's name, however, the Parliament has to get involved.
Sabaga does not anticipate any hiccups in getting the name change approved.
He expects that Parliament will be able to do just that by the first half of next year.
The process has been ongoing for some time and the TTARC has thought of at least three names that can be used as a replacement.
Checks have already been done to ensure the names are available for use.
The new name is expected to include Lady Hochoy Homes.
"We are very careful now, we don't know what is going to happen in the next 20 years so the word mentally challenged, while it is acceptable today, and is a lingo that is understood, in 20 years it may be an issue, so we are looking for a neutral but easily identified name," he said.
Sabga lauded the Carmelite sisters and the other staff at the various homes for all the work they have been doing.
The issue of a name change as a result of terms becoming outdated is not new around the world.
The Association for Retarded Citizens of the United States, dropped “retarded” from its name in 1992.
Since it had been known as “The ARC” previously, that group made “The Arc” its official name.
"In 1910, the Association of Medical Officers of American Institutions for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Persons adopted three classifications of people we know today as intellectually disabled, as defined by a newly invented way to measure intelligence we now call the IQ test. “Morons” were the most intelligent — they had IQs between 50 and 70. “Imbeciles” with IQs between 25 and 50 were the second level. Those below 25 would remain “idiots.”," an article from the Medium Corporation stated.
"These terms and the name of their association for that matter did not strike these medical officers as insulting or offensive at all because, at the time, they weren’t insulting or offensive. They were simply medical terms," it stated.