Wrong, Martin. People only THOUGHT they knew what that meant. Mentally retarded was a term applied to children with 'differences'. Today, many of the areas of difference have been narrowed down so that the teaching and subsequent learning of those individuals can be enhanced. Saying that someone is mentally retarded is as useful to an educator as saying "it doesn't work right" is about your car to a mechanic. I do not need someone telling me I can't handle the truth about my daughter. I live with that truth. If you want to say she has hyperlexia with severe speach/language disorder, that's one thing. If you wish to write her off as being mentally retarded, that's another. One is a helpful diagnosis. The other is an opinion from someone who basically doesn't know anything about the subject.