AJMR is now the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Journal’s name change reflects society’s efforts to appropriately address people with cognitive disabilities

Washington, DC (February 26, 2009)— After almost two decades of being called the American Journal on Mental Retardation, this top research journal in special education and social sciences has changed its name to the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AJIDD). The new title follows the name change of its publisher, the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, formerly the American Association on Mental Retardation. 

With the title change of its oldest journal now complete, AAIDD continues a three-year effort of shifting the terminology from “mental retardation” to “intellectual and developmental disabilities” into the organization’s structure and publications. The change embodies a microcosm of society’s ongoing struggle to find a socially-acceptable way of addressing people with an intellectual disability. 

In support of the name change, Dr. Leonard Abbeduto, editor of AJIDD, writes in an editorial, “This change in terminology reflects our field’s commitment not only to science but to the people whose lives we hope to improve through our efforts.” Dr. Abbeduto goes on to note that the new title is “a tangible sign of our respect for, and solidarity with, people who have disabilities and their families, and also reflects a broadening of the journal’s scope to include individuals with developmental disabilities.” Click here to read Dr. Abbeduto’s editorial. 

Founded in 1886, the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities quickly became the leader in reporting ground-breaking research in behavioral and educational sciences. The journal consistently ranks in the top three journals in the special education field, according to the Institute for Scientific Information’s annual impact factor rankings. 

Many of the insights and controversies that have contributed to the field have been introduced and debated in the journal. Today, as genetic syndromes have come to the forefront in the field, the journal has moved beyond the restrictions of IQ or other markers of intellectual disabilities as a criterion for inclusion. Dr. Wayne Silverman, AAIDD member and scientist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, comments, “Thisimportant renaming reinforces AJIDD’s prominent role for professionals concerned about intellectual disability and reflects the broadening in its content relevant to developmental disabilities more generally.” To read the most recent Table of Contents from the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, click here. To subscribe, click here.