Although students with mental retardation are more likely to be segregated than any other group except students
with multiple disabilities, research shows that students with mental retardation perform at higher levels when included in
general education classrooms. Also beneficial to students with mental retardation is a curriculum that emphasizes
self-determination, life skills, and collaboration with parents from an early age (Turnbull et al., 2002).
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Mental retardation is not something you have, like blue eyes, or a bad heart. Nor is it something you
are, like short, or thin. It is not a medical disorder, nor a mental disorder. Mental retardation is a particular state
of functioning that begins in childhood and is characterized by limitation in both intelligence and adaptive skills. Mental
retardation reflects the "fit" between the capabilities of individuals and the structure and expectations of their environment.
-American Association on Mental Retardation
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The American Association on Mental Retardation (2003) defines mental retardation as a disability originating
before the age of 18, characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as
expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills.
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