Discussion: Labeling and Children

As you read the chapters on childhood, you may notice that the process of diagnosing and labeling children is changing. For example, you can look at the campaign to get rid of the ‘R word’ (retardation) by going to www.r-word.org. Read about the controversy over using diagnostic labels that either rigidly categorize and/or stigmatize children. Both labels of autism and fetal alcohol syndrome have now been replaced with “autism spectrum disorders” and “fetal alcohol spectrum disorders”, respectively. Why have these changes occurred? What impact does labeling a child with a diagnosis have on that child? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Please post twice and respond twice for full credit.