Book Explores Rosemary Kennedy's Life

Interesting review of “The Missing Kennedy: Rosemary Kennedy and the Secret Bonds of Four Women” by Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff. Bancroft Press (Baltimore, 2015). 258 pp., $27.50.

The story of young Rosemary Kennedy (1918-2005), the first daughter born to the celebrated Boston family, invites sad contemplation of what might have been. One wonders if things would have turned out quite differently for the younger sister of President John F. Kennedy, who at age 7 was diagnosed as intellectually disabled (or “mentally retarded,” as it was then termed), if during her delivery the nurse had not directed Rosie’s mother to close her legs and thus delay delivery for some two hours until the attending physician could arrive.

Corporations Find Untapped Resource

Something curious is happening in Corporate America. Business leaders are discovering a whole new source of talent they never realized existed: people with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

Of course, this population has been there all along. But now that their bottom-line value is beginning to be understood, best of breed companies are competing to capitalize on the myriad opportunities presented by hiring people who, until now, have been roundly ignored

DSM Panel Shifts Course on Definition of Intellectual Disability, but Not Autism

Experts behind the new version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders didn’t back down on major changes to the definition of autism, but appear to have made an about-face when it comes to intellectual disability.
Initial plans to revise the diagnosis of “mental retardation” in the forthcoming fifth edition of the psychiatric manual called for the condition to be renamed “intellectual developmental disorder.” Critics blasted the proposal because it was inconsistent with the more commonly accepted term “intellectual disability” which has already been adopted in many federal and state laws.

Study: Half of Intellectual Disability Caused By Random, Not Inherited, Genetic Mutations

BERLIN -- More than half the cases of severe intellectual disability caused by genetic defects are the result of random mutations, not inherited mutations passed down from parents, a new study suggests.
The findings of the small-scale European study give hope to parents of children born with a severe intellectual disabilities who are worried about having another baby with the same condition, said Anita Rauch, chair of the Institute of Medical Genetics in Zurich who was one of the study's lead authors.