Special education is losing its identity--its visibility, distinctiveness, budget, and basic functions are all at risk. Special education functions include (a) sorting, categorizing, and labeling students who need it; (b) making the right comparisons; (c) honoring diversity but changing "particular" differences; (d) managing stigma; (e)…

This article describes the strengths and weaknesses of different models of classification (primarily monothetic and polythetic) and then focuses on cluster analysis as a method of pursuing a polythetic model. Design features that need to be incorporated in a cluster analytic study are discussed in relation to theory formulation, internal validity,…

The meaning of the category and concept of mild mental retardation is explored through the words of fictional characters and the accounts of real people who have been injured and stigmatized by the label. Examples of the extremes to which people have gone to avoid or escape the term mental retardation are provided. The classification of mild…

Although there have always been people considered to have mental retardation (MR), the category has proven surprisingly difficult to define adequately. This is because it includes a subcategory of mild MR whose members are part of a larger population of marginally competent people, some of whom may be considered to have other forms of disability…