Waldman H B, Swerdloff M, Perlman S P
Department of General Dentistry, State University of New York at Stony Brook 11794-8706, USA.
ASDC J Dent Child. 1999 Sep-Oct;66(5):343-7, 294.
Societal attitudes and perceptions of children with mental retardation have stigmatized and stereotyped generations of youngsters. Deinstitutionalization and mainstreaming most of these children in our schools and general communities require that we recognize and reevaluate many long-held beliefs and how they serve as obstacles to implementing and ensuring needed health and social services. The background and current status of these attitudes are reviewed in an effort to 1) increase practitioner understanding of the population of youngsters with mental retardation that increasingly will be seeking the services of community dentists and 2) encourage legislative efforts and grass-root initiatives (such as the Special Olympics) to change/improve attitudes relative to children with mental retardation.
社会对智力迟钝儿童的态度和看法使几代年轻人都受到了污名化和刻板印象的影响。将这些儿童中的大多数从机构中解放出来并使其融入我们的学校和普通社区，这要求我们认识并重新评估许多长期以来持有的观念，以及这些观念如何成为实施和确保所需的健康与社会服务的障碍。本文回顾了这些态度的背景和现状，以期：1）增进从业者对越来越多地寻求社区牙医服务的智力迟钝儿童群体的了解；2）鼓励立法努力和基层倡议（如特奥会）来改变/改善对智力迟钝儿童的态度。
