title: Disability, disorder, and identity.
abstract: The World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the most important diagnostic tool, worldwide, to ensure that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities receive the supports they need to live richer, fuller lives. And yet, the ICD has naming conventions that create a conundrum for the field, requiring that all "conditions" in the ICD be named as a "disorder." This article discusses the effect of naming on how people with intellectual disability are perceived by others and how they perceive themselves. The importance of continuing to move the field toward the adoption of functional/person-environment fit models of disability is discussed.
authors.affiliation: University of Kansas, 1200 Sunnyside Ave., Lawrence, KS 66045, USA. wehmeyer@ku.edu
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Wehmeyer
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D038801:International Classification of Diseases / Q000458:organization & administration; D012649:Self Concept; D009626:Terminology as Topic
references.citation: Intellect Dev Disabil. 2007 Apr;45(2):116-24
references.pmid: 17428134
references.citation: Intellect Dev Disabil. 2008 Aug;46(4):311-8
references.pmid: 18671445