[SE-Dir] OSL&P: Rosa's Law Terminology Changes

[ALLRAN Laura]

TO:  All District and ESD Special Education Directors

The message below is being sent to you on behalf of:


Nancy Latini, PhD
Assistant Superintendent
Student Learning & Partnerships
______________________________________________
January 19, 2011

RE:    Rosa's Law Terminology Changes

As you know, in the fall of 2010 President Obama signed legislation (Rosa's law) changing the language in all relevant federal enactments and regulations from mental retardation to intellectual disability.  It also required a change in terminology from mentally retarded individual to an individual with an intellectual disability.  These changes were made without any intent to change eligibility, rights, responsibilities, or definitions or to compel states to change terminology in state laws.

As you also may know, many Oregonians have long desired to see this change in terminology and a decision has been made to act on that change. There is currently a bill at the legislature to provide authorization to change the terminology in Oregon statues and rules. Immediately following passage of that bill and subsequent changes, we will be changing any data systems and documents coming out of our office, including the special education sample forms located on the ODE website.  Staff is currently in the process conducting searches to find where those changes are necessary.  For example, one surprise is that the term mental retardation is not located in the Parental Rights/Safeguards document yet is located in several other documents that contain lists of disabilities.  The majority of changes will be completed upon passage of the bill. You will be notified as soon as the bill becomes law and the changes are made to ODE documents and data systems.

I know you will need to take steps to make necessary changes in the terminology, particularly with vendors who provide your IEP systems. You should be aware that we are targeting the end of the 2011-12 school year (and the very latest fall of the 2012-13 school year) for all current IEPs and related assessments to reflect this change. We wanted to give you this heads up to begin considering these changes.

This is a monumental change for children, youth, and adults with cognitive disabilities, and we applaud Congress, the President, and the Oregon legislature for acknowledging the importance of this change.

P.S. For those of you with major shifts in IEP vendors we are trying to assist in getting these changes made.  Please note the message below to tech staff from Doug Kosty about the importance of having special education representation on the planning committees:

"I am certain that you will include all types of end-users as you move forward with requirements gathering for the RFP, however I want to call your attention to a recent example. There has been a change in the terminology for what is known as Rosa's Law (mentally retarded to intellectual disability)and concerns have been raised with respect to computer vendors ability to appropriately codify these changes.  Please take the time to engage  Special Education experts as you develop your requirements to ensure this issue is appropriately addressed."

Do not hesitate to connect with me if you have further questions or concerns.  Thanks for all of the great work you do.

If you have any difficulty viewing this document, please contact Laura Allran at laura.allran at state.or.us<mailto:laura.allran at state.or.us>  or 503-947-5674.

Messages to and from this e-mail address may be made available to the public under Oregon law.
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