DRZ@SJUVM.BITNET (Bob Zenhausern) (11/08/90)
Index Number: 11638 [This is from the Educational Research List mailing list. Bill] Tzipporah BenAvrahm has told me about a paper needed by the United Nations on the differences between mental retardation and mental illness. In some countries there is no distinction made between the two and so the receive the same treatment. Unless there is a paper providing contrary evidence the UN may not oppose this non- distinction. Anyone feeling strongly enough to write a reaction should send a message to the list and I will attempt to compile the the responses into the first group expert paper presented to the UN. Here is what Tzippy has written explaining the whole situation. I am asking for this kind of a treatise for a reason. Today Nov 7, 1990, in Geneva, there is a conference on the rights of the mentally ill. In Aug 1989, a concensus was made in Tallin Estonia SSR that mental illness and mental retardation was equivilant. This was done by a number of poeple who are NOT experts in this. It is paragraph 57 of the Tallin protocol regarding technology and human resource. It is the ONLY UN statement to date on this issues and lacks fibre. No scholar was there to help quantify this thus the declarative paragraph came to be, Now what I am seeking is a scholar who can quantify mental illness vs mental retardation. That expert paper can then be cited by the UN as an "expert source". Is there anyone here willing to give it a whirl? I can give better reasons and protocol for UN writing (I do a great deal of it myself over the last 5 years). Appreciate any help you might offer. Thanks Dr Benavraham