Mental retardation (MR) is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors. It has historically been defined as an Intelligence Quotient score under 70.^[1] Once focused almost entirely on cognition, the definition now includes both a component relating to mental functioning and one relating to individuals' functional skills in their environment. As a result, a person with a below-average intelligence quotient (BAIQ) may not be considered mentally retarded. Syndromic mental retardation is intellectual deficits associated with other medical and behavioral signs and symptoms. Non-syndromic mental retardation refers to intellectual deficits that appear without other abnormalities.

The terms used to describe this condition are subject to a process called the euphemism treadmill. This means that whatever term is chosen for this condition, it eventually becomes perceived as an insult. The terms mental retardation and mentally retarded were invented in the middle of the 20th century to replace the previous set of terms, which were deemed to have become offensive. By the end of the 20th century, these terms themselves have come to be widely seen as disparaging and politically incorrect and in need of replacement.^[2] The term intellectual disability or intellectually challenged is now preferred by most advocates in most English-speaking countries. Clinically, however, mental retardation is a subtype of intellectual disability, which is a broader concept and includes intellectual deficits that are too mild to properly qualify as mental retardation, too specific (as in specific learning disability), or acquired later in life, through acquired brain injuries or neurodegenerative diseases like dementia. Intellectual disabilities may appear at any age. Developmental disability is any disability that is due to problems with growth and development. This term encompasses many congenital medical conditions that have no mental or intellectual components, although it, too, is sometimes used as a euphemism for MR.^[3] Because of its specificity and lack of confusion with other conditions, mental retardation is still the term most widely used and recommended for use in professional medical settings, such as formal scientific research and health insurance paperwork.^[4]

Signs and symptoms[link]

The signs and symptoms of mental retardation are all behavioral. Most people with mental retardation do not look like they have any type of intellectual disability, especially if the disability is caused by environmental factors such as malnutrition or lead poisoning. The so-called "typical appearance" ascribed to people with mental retardation is only present in a minority of cases, all of which involve syndromic mental retardation.

Children with mental retardation may learn to sit up, to crawl, or to walk later than other children, or they may learn to talk later.^[5] Both adults and children with mental retardation may also exhibit some or all of the following characteristics:^[5]

• Delays in oral language development
• Deficits in memory skills
• Difficulty learning social rules
• Difficulty with problem solving skills
• Delays in the development of adaptive behaviors such as self-help or self-care skills
• Lack of social inhibitors

Children with mental retardation learn more slowly than a typical child. Children may take longer to learn language, develop social skills, and take care of their personal needs, such as dressing or eating. Learning will take them longer, require more repetition, and skills may need to be adapted to their learning level. Nevertheless, virtually every child is able to learn, develop and become a participating member of the community.

In early childhood, mild mental retardation (IQ 50–69, a cognitive ability about half to two-thirds of standard) may not be obvious, and may not be identified until children begin school.^[5] Even when poor academic performance is recognized, it may take expert assessment to distinguish mild mental retardation from learning disability or emotional/behavioral disorders. People with mild MR are capable of learning reading and mathematics skills to approximately the level of a typical child aged 9 to 12.^[5] They can learn self-care and practical skills, such as cooking or using the local mass transit system.^[5] As individuals with mild mental retardation reach adulthood, many learn to live independently and maintain gainful employment.

Moderate mental retardation (IQ 35–49) is nearly always apparent within the first years of life. Speech delays are particularly common signs of moderate MR.^[5] People with moderate mental retardation need considerable supports in school, at home, and in the community in order to participate fully. While their academic potential is limited, they can learn simple health and safety skills and to participate in simple activities.^[5] As adults they may live with their parents, in a supportive group home, or even semi-independently with significant supportive services to help them, for example, manage their finances. As adults, they may work in a sheltered workshop.^[5]

A person with severe or profound mental retardation will need more intensive support and supervision his or her entire life.^[5] They may learn some activities of daily living. Some will require full-time care by an attendant.^[5]

Cause[link]

Among children, the cause is unknown for one-third to one-half of cases.^[5] Down syndrome, velocariofacial syndrome, and fetal alcohol syndrome are the three most common inborn causes.^[5] However, doctors have found many other causes. The most common are:

• Genetic conditions. Sometimes disability is caused by abnormal genes inherited from parents, errors when genes combine, or other reasons. The most prevalent genetic conditions include Down syndrome, Klinefelter's syndrome, Fragile X syndrome (common among boys), Neurofibromatosis, congenital hypothyroidism, Williams syndrome, Phenylketonuria (PKU), and Prader-Willi syndrome. Other genetic conditions include Phelan-McDermid syndrome (22q13del), Mowat-Wilson syndrome, genetic ciliopathy,^[6] and Siderius type X-linked mental retardation (OMIM 300263) as caused by mutations in the PHF8 gene (OMIM 300560).^[7][8] In the rarest of cases, abnormalities with the X or Y chromosome may also cause disability. 48, XXXX and 49, XXXXX syndrome affect a small number of girls worldwide, while boys may be affected by 47, XYY, 49, XXXXY, or 49, XYYYY.
• Problems during pregnancy. Mental disability can result when the fetus does not develop properly. For example, there may be a problem with the way the fetus' cells divide as it grows. A woman who drinks alcohol (see fetal alcohol syndrome) or gets an infection like rubella during pregnancy may also have a baby with mental disability.
• Problems at birth. If a baby has problems during labor and birth, such as not getting enough oxygen, he or she may have developmental disability due to brain damage.
• Exposure to certain types of disease or toxins. Diseases like whooping cough, measles, or meningitis can cause mental disability if medical care is delayed or inadequate. Exposure to poisons like lead or mercury may also affect mental ability.
• Iodine deficiency, affecting approximately 2 billion people worldwide, is the leading preventable cause of mental disability in areas of the developing world where iodine deficiency is endemic. Iodine deficiency also causes goiter, an enlargement of the thyroid gland. More common than full-fledged cretinism, as retardation caused by severe iodine deficiency is called, is mild impairment of intelligence. Certain areas of the world due to natural deficiency and governmental inaction are severely affected. India is the most outstanding, with 500 million suffering from deficiency, 54 million from goiter, and 2 million from cretinism. Among other nations affected by iodine deficiency, China and Kazakhstan have instituted widespread iodization programs, whereas, as of 2006, Russia had not.^[9]
• Malnutrition is a common cause of reduced intelligence in parts of the world affected by famine, such as Ethiopia.^[10]
• Absence of the arcuate fasciculus.^[11]

Diagnosis[link]

According to the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV),^[12] three criteria must be met for a diagnosis of mental retardation: an IQ below 70, significant limitations in two or more areas of adaptive behavior (as measured by an adaptive behavior rating scale, i.e. communication, self-help skills, interpersonal skills, and more), and evidence that the limitations became apparent before the age of 18.

It is formally diagnosed by professional assessment of intelligence and adaptive behavior.

IQ below 70[link]

The first English-language IQ test, the Terman-Binet, was adapted from an instrument used to measure potential to achieve developed by Binet in France. Terman translated the test and employed it as a means to measure intellectual capacity based on oral language, vocabulary, numerical reasoning, memory, motor speed and analysis skills. The mean score on the currently available IQ tests is 100, with a standard deviation of 15 (WAIS/WISC-IV) or 16 (Stanford-Binet). Sub-average intelligence is generally considered to be present when an individual scores two standard deviations below the test mean. Factors other than cognitive ability (depression, anxiety, etc.) can contribute to low IQ scores; it is important for the evaluator to rule them out prior to concluding that measured IQ is "significantly below average".

The following ranges, based on Standard Scores of intelligence tests, reflect the categories of the American Association of Mental Retardation, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-TR, and the International Classification of Diseases-10^{[citation needed]}:

Since the diagnosis is not based on IQ scores alone, but must also take into consideration a person's adaptive functioning, the diagnosis is not made rigidly. It encompasses intellectual scores, adaptive functioning scores from an adaptive behavior rating scale based on descriptions of known abilities provided by someone familiar with the person, and also the observations of the assessment examiner who is able to find out directly from the person what he or she can understand, communicate, and such like. This enables diagnosis to avoid the pitfall of the Flynn Effect which is a consequence of a periodic re-calibration of average IQ (usually upwards) affecting the absolute values of the standard deviation causing some people to fall into a different IQ range as-if overnight.

Significant limitations in two or more areas of adaptive behavior[link]

Adaptive behavior, or adaptive functioning, refers to the skills needed to live independently (or at the minimally acceptable level for age). To assess adaptive behavior, professionals compare the functional abilities of a child to those of other children of similar age. To measure adaptive behavior, professionals use structured interviews, with which they systematically elicit information about persons' functioning in the community from people who know them well. There are many adaptive behavior scales, and accurate assessment of the quality of someone's adaptive behavior requires clinical judgment as well. Certain skills are important to adaptive behavior, such as:

• Daily living skills, such as getting dressed, using the bathroom, and feeding oneself
• Communication skills, such as understanding what is said and being able to answer
• Social skills with peers, family members, spouses, adults, and others

Evidence that the limitations became apparent in childhood[link]

This third condition is used to distinguish mental retardation from dementing conditions such as Alzheimer's disease or due to traumatic injuries with attendant brain damage.

Management[link]

By most definitions mental retardation is more accurately considered a disability rather than a disease. MR can be distinguished in many ways from mental illness, such as schizophrenia or depression. Currently, there is no "cure" for an established disability, though with appropriate support and teaching, most individuals can learn to do many things.

There are thousands of agencies around the world that provide assistance for people with developmental disabilities. They include state-run, for-profit, and non-profit, privately run agencies. Within one agency there could be departments that include fully staffed residential homes, day rehabilitation programs that approximate schools, workshops wherein people with disabilities can obtain jobs, programs that assist people with developmental disabilities in obtaining jobs in the community, programs that provide support for people with developmental disabilities who have their own apartments, programs that assist them with raising their children, and many more. There are also many agencies and programs for parents of children with developmental disabilities.

Beyond that there are specific programs that people with developmental disabilities can take part in wherein they learn basic life skills. These "goals" may take a much longer amount of time for them to accomplish, but the ultimate goal is independence. This may be anything from independence in tooth brushing to an independent residence. People with developmental disabilities learn throughout their lives and can obtain many new skills even late in life with the help of their families, caregivers, clinicians and the people who coordinate the efforts of all of these people.

Although there is no specific medication for mental retardation, many people with developmental disabilities have further medical complications and may take several medications. For example autisic children with developmental delay may utilize anti-psychotics or mood stabilizers to help with behavior. Use of psychotropic medications such as benzodiazepines in people with mental retardation requires monitoring and vigilance as side effects occur commonly and are often misdiagnosed as behavioural and psychiatric problems.^[13]

Epidemiology[link]

Mental retardation affects about 2–3% of people.^[5] 75–90% of the affected people have mild retardation.^[5]

Non-syndromic or idiopathic MR accounts for 30–50% of cases.^[5] About a quarter of cases are caused by a genetic disorder.^[5]

History of the condition[link]

Intellectual disabilities of all kinds have been documented under a variety of names throughout history. Throughout much of human history, society was unkind to those with any type of disability, and people with intellectual disabilities were commonly viewed as burdens on their families.

Greek and Roman philosophers, who valued reasoning abilities, disparaged people with intellectual disabilities as barely human.^[14] The oldest physiological view of mental retardation is in the writings of Hippocrates in the late fifth century BCE, who believed that it was caused by an imbalance in the four humors in the brain.

Until the Enlightenment in Europe, care and asylum was provided by families and the church (in monasteries and other religious communities), focusing on the provision of basic physical needs such as food, shelter and clothing. Negative stereotypes were prominent in social attitudes of the time.

In the 13th century, England declared people with intellectual disabilities to be incapable of making decisions or managing their affairs.^[14] Guardianships were created to take over their financial affairs.

In the 17th century, Thomas Willis provided the first description of intellectual disabilities as a disease.^[14] He believed that it was caused by structural problems in the brain. According to Willis, the anatomical problems could be either an inborn condition or acquired later in life.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, housing and care moved away from families and towards an asylum model. People were placed by, or removed from, their families (usually in infancy) and housed in large professional institutions, many of which were self-sufficient through the labor of the residents. Some of these institutions provided a very basic level of education (such as differentiation between colors and basic word recognition and numeracy), but most continued to focus solely on the provision of basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter. Conditions in such institutions varied widely, but the support provided was generally non-individualized, with aberrant behavior and low levels of economic productivity regarded as a burden to society. Heavy tranquilization and assembly line methods of support were the norm, and the medical model of disability prevailed. Services were provided based on the relative ease to the provider, not based on the needs of the individual.

In the late 19th century, in response to Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, Francis Galton proposed selective breeding of humans to reduce intellectual disabilities.^[14] Early in the twentieth century the eugenics movement became popular throughout the world. This led to the forced sterilization and prohibition of marriage in most of the developed world and later used by Hitler as rationale for the mass murder of mentally challenged individuals during the holocaust. Eugenics was later abandoned as an evil violation of human rights, and the practice of forced sterilization and prohibition from marriage was discontinued by most of the developed world by the mid 20th century.

In 1905, Alfred Binet produced the first standardized test for measuring intelligence in children.^[14]

Although ancient Roman law had declared people with mental retardation to be incapable of the deliberate intent to harm that was necessary for a person to commit a crime, during the 1920s, Western society believed they were morally degenerate.^[14]

Ignoring the prevailing attitude, Civitans adopted service to the developmentally disabled as a major organizational emphasis in 1952. Their earliest efforts included workshops for special education teachers and daycamps for disabled children, all at a time when such training and programs were almost nonexistent.^[15] The segregation of people with developmental disabilities wasn't widely questioned by academics or policy-makers until the 1969 publication of Wolf Wolfensberger's seminal work "The Origin and Nature of Our Institutional Models",^[16] drawing on some of the ideas proposed by SG Howe 100 years earlier. This book posited that society characterizes people with disabilities as deviant, sub-human and burdens of charity, resulting in the adoption of that "deviant" role. Wolfensberger argued that this dehumanization, and the segregated institutions that result from it, ignored the potential productive contributions that all people can make to society. He pushed for a shift in policy and practice that recognized the human needs of "retardates" and provided the same basic human rights as for the rest of the population.

The publication of this book may be regarded as the first move towards the widespread adoption of the social model of disability in regard to these types of disabilities, and was the impetus for the development of government strategies for desegregation. Successful lawsuits against governments and an increasing awareness of human rights and self-advocacy also contributed to this process, resulting in the passing in the U.S. of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act in 1980.

From the 1960s to the present, most states have moved towards the elimination of segregated institutions. Normalization and deinstitutionalization are dominant.^[14] Along with the work of Wolfensberger and others including Gunnar and Rosemary Dybwad,^[17] a number of scandalous revelations around the horrific conditions within state institutions created public outrage that led to change to a more community-based method of providing services.^[18]

By the mid-1970s, most governments had committed to de-institutionalization, and had started preparing for the wholesale movement of people into the general community, in line with the principles of normalization. In most countries, this was essentially complete by the late 1990s, although the debate over whether or not to close institutions persists in some states, including Massachusetts.^[19]

In the past, lead poisoning and infectious diseases were significant causes of intellectual disabilities. Some causes of mental retardation are decreasing, as medical advances, such as vaccination, increases. Other causes are increasing as a proportion of cases, perhaps due to rising maternal age, which is associated with several syndromic forms of mental retardation.

Along with the changes in terminology, and the downward drift in acceptability of the old terms, institutions of all kinds have had to repeatedly change their names. This affects the names of schools, hospitals, societies, government departments, and academic journals. For example, the Midlands Institute of Mental Subnormality became the British Institute of Mental Handicap and is now the British Institute of Learning Disability. This phenomenon is shared with mental health and motor disabilities, and seen to a lesser degree in sensory disabilities.^{[citation needed]}

History of the terminology[link]

Several traditional terms denoting varying degrees of mental deficiency long predate psychiatry. All terms have been subjected to the euphemism treadmill. In common usage, these terms are simple forms of abuse. They are often encountered in old documents such as books, academic papers, and census forms (for example, the British census of 1901 has a column heading including the terms imbecile and feeble-minded).

Negative connotations associated with these numerous terms for mental retardation reflect society's attitude about the condition. There are competing desires among elements of society, some of whom seek neutral medical terms, and others who want to use such terms as weapons with which to abuse people.

Today, the term retarded is slowly being replaced by new words like special or challenged. The term developmental delay is popular among caretakers and parents of individuals with mental retardation. Using the word delay is preferred over disability by many people, because delay suggests that a person is slowly reaching his or her full potential, rather than someone who has been disabled.^{[citation needed]}

Usage has changed over the years, and differed from country to country, which needs to be borne in mind when looking at older books and papers. For example, mental retardation in some contexts covers the whole field, but previously applied to what is now the mild MR group. Feeble-minded used to mean mild MR in the UK, and once applied in the US to the whole field. "Borderline MR" is not currently defined, but the term may be used to apply to people with IQs in the 70s. People with IQs of 70 to 85 used to be eligible for special consideration in the US public education system on grounds of mental retardation.^{[citation needed]}

• Cretin is the oldest and comes from a dialectal French word for Christian.^[20] The implication was that people with significant intellectual or developmental disabilities were "still human" (or "still Christian") and deserved to be treated with basic human dignity. Individuals with the condition were considered to be incapable of sinning, thus "christ-like" in their disposition. This term is not used in scientific endeavors since the middle of the 20th century and is generally considered a term of abuse. Although cretin is no longer in use, the term cretinism is still used to refer to the mental and physical retardation resulting from untreated congenital hypothyroidism.
• Amentia has a long history, mostly associated with dementia. The difference between amentia and dementia was originally defined by time of onset. Amentia was the term used to describe an individual who developed deficits in mental functioning early in life, while dementia described individuals who develop mental deficiencies as adults. During the 1890s, amentia was used to describe someone who was born with mental deficiencies. By 1912, ament was a classification lumping "idiots, imbeciles, and feeble minded" individuals in a category separate from a dement classification, in which the onset is later in life.
• Idiot indicated the greatest degree of intellectual disability, where the mental age is two years or less, and the person cannot guard himself or herself against common physical dangers. The term was gradually replaced by the term profound mental retardation.
• Imbecile indicated an intellectual disability less extreme than idiocy and not necessarily inherited. It is now usually subdivided into two categories, known as severe mental retardation and moderate mental retardation.
• Moron was defined by the American Association for the Study of the Feeble-minded in 1910, following work by Henry H. Goddard, as the term for an adult with a mental age between eight and twelve; mild mental retardation is now the term for this condition. Alternative definitions of these terms based on IQ were also used. This group was known in UK law from 1911 to 1959/60 as feeble-minded.
• Mongolism was a medical term used to identify someone with Down syndrome. The Mongolian People's Republic requested that the medical community cease use of the term as a description of mental retardation. Their request was granted in the 1960s, when the World Health Organization agreed that the term should cease being used within the medical community.
• In the field of special education, educable (or "educable mentally retarded") refers to MR students with IQs of approximately 50–75 who can progress academically to a late elementary level. Trainable (or "trainable mentally retarded") refers to students whose IQs fall below 50 but who are still capable of learning personal hygiene and other living skills in a sheltered setting, such as a group home. In many areas, these terms have been replaced by use of "moderate" and "severe" mental retardation. While the names change, the meaning stays roughly the same in practice.
• Retarded comes from the Latin retardare, "to make slow, delay, keep back, or hinder," so mental retardation means the same as mentally delayed. The term was recorded in 1426 as a "fact or action of making slower in movement or time." The first record of retarded in relation to being mentally slow was in 1895. The term retarded was used to replace terms like idiot, moron, and imbecile because retarded was not (then) a derogatory term. By the 1960s, however, the term had taken on a partially derogatory meaning as well. The noun retard is particularly seen as pejorative; as of 2010, the Special Olympics, Best Buddies and over 100 other organizations are striving to eliminate the use of the "r-word" (analogous to the "n-word") in everyday conversation.^[21][22]

The term mental retardation is a diagnostic term denoting the group of disconnected categories of mental functioning such as idiot, imbecile, and moron derived from early IQ tests, which acquired pejorative connotations in popular discourse. The term mental retardation acquired pejorative and shameful connotations over the last few decades due to the use of the words retarded and retard as insults. This may have contributed to its replacement with euphemisms such as mentally challenged or intellectually disabled. While developmental disability includes many other disorders (see below), developmental disability and developmental delay (for people under the age of 18), are generally considered more polite terms than mental retardation.

United States[link]

• In North America mental retardation is subsumed into the broader term developmental disability, which also includes epilepsy, autism, cerebral palsy and other disorders that develop during the developmental period (birth to age 18). Because service provision is tied to the designation developmental disability, it is used by many parents, direct support professionals, and physicians. In the United States, however, in school-based settings, the more specific term mental retardation is still typically used, and is one of 13 categories of disability under which children may be identified for special education services under Public Law 108-446.
• The phrase intellectual disability is increasingly being used as a synonym for people with significantly below-average cognitive ability. These terms are sometimes used as a means of separating general intellectual limitations from specific, limited deficits as well as indicating that it is not an emotional or psychological disability. Intellectual disability may also used to describe the outcome of traumatic brain injury or lead poisoning or dementing conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. It is not specific to congenital disorders such as Down syndrome.

The American Association on Mental Retardation continued to use the term mental retardation until 2006.^[23] In June 2006 its members voted to change the name of the organization to the "American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities," rejecting the options to become the AAID or AADD. Part of the rationale for the double name was that many members worked with people with pervasive developmental disorders, most of whom do not have mental retardation.^[24] In fact, a high school in Texas recalled their yearbook because of the use of the word to describe certain special education students. [1]

United Kingdom[link]

In the UK, mental handicap had become the common medical term, replacing mental subnormality in Scotland and mental deficiency in England and Wales, until Stephen Dorrell, Secretary of State for Health for the United Kingdom from 1995–97, changed the NHS's designation to learning disability.^[25] The new term is not yet widely understood, and is often taken to refer to problems affecting schoolwork (the American usage), which are known in the UK as "learning difficulties." British social workers may use "learning difficulty" to refer to both people with MR and those with conditions such as dyslexia.^[26] In education, "learning difficulties" is applied to a wide range of conditions: "specific learning difficulty" may refer to dyslexia, dyscalculia or dyspraxia, while "moderate learning difficulties", "severe learning difficulties" and "profound learning difficulties" refer to more significant impairments.^[27][28]

In England and Wales between 1983 and 2008 the Mental Health Act 1983 defined "mental impairment" and "severe mental impairment" as "a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind which includes significant/severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning and is associated with abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible conduct on the part of the person concerned."^[29] As behavior was involved, these were not necessarily permanent conditions: they were defined for the purpose of authorizing detention in hospital or guardianship. The term mental impairment was removed from the Act in November 2008, but the grounds for detention remained. However, English statute law uses mental impairment elsewhere in a less well-defined manner—e.g. to allow exemption from taxes—implying that mental retardation without any behavioral problems is what is meant.

A BBC poll conducted in the United Kingdom came to the conclusion that 'retard' was the most offensive disability-related word.^[30] On the reverse side of that, when a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother live used the phrase "walking like a retard", despite complaints from the public and the charity Mencap, the communications regulator Ofcom did not uphold the complaint saying "it was not used in an offensive context [...] and had been used light-heartedly". It was however noted that two previous similar complaints from other shows were upheld.^[31]

Australia[link]

In the past, Australia has used British and American terms interchangeably, including "mental retardation" and "mental handicap". Today, "Intellectual disability" is the preferred and more commonly used descriptor.^[32]

Society and culture[link]

People with such disabilities are often not seen as full citizens of society. Person-centered planning and approaches are seen as methods of addressing the continued labeling and exclusion of socially devalued people, such as people with disabilities, encouraging a focus on the person as someone with capacities and gifts as well as support needs. The self-advocacy movement promotes the right of self-determination and self-direction by people with intellectual disabilities, which means allowing people with intellectual disabilities to make decisions about their own lives.

Until the middle of the 20th century, people with intellectual disabilities were routinely excluded from public education, or educated away from other typically developing children. Compared to students with intellectual disabilities who were segregated in special schools, students with intellectual disabilities who are mainstreamed or included in regular classrooms report similar levels of stigma and social self-conception, but more ambitious plans for employment.^[33]

As adults, people with intellectual disabilities may live independently, with family members, or in different types of institutions organized to support people with intellectual disabilities. About 8% of people with mental retardation live in an institution or group home.^[34]

In the US, the average lifetime cost of mental retardation amounts to $1,014,000 per person with mental retardation, in 2003 US dollars.^[34] This is slightly more than the costs associated with cerebral palsy, and double that associated with serious vision or hearing impairments. Of that $1,014,000, about 14% is due to increased medical expenses (not including what is normally incurred by a person with mental retardation), 10% is due to direct non-medical expenses, such as the excess cost of special education compared to standard schooling, and 76% is indirect costs accounting for reduced productivity and shortened lifespans. Some expenses, such as costs associated with being a family caregiver or living in a group home, were excluded from this calculation.^[34]

Abusive terms for intellectual deficits are common insults, and are most commonly applied to non-disabled people. For example, in the 1964 movie Becket, King Henry II calls his son and heir a "cretin." Mental health professionals discourage use of these terms. The abbreviation retard or tard is still used as a generic insult. A BBC survey in 2003 ranked retard as the most offensive disability-related word, ahead of terms such as spastic (not considered offensive in America^[35]) and mong.^[36] A campaign led by people with intellectual disabilities and the Special Olympics to eliminate the "R word" has resulted in federal legislation to replace the term mentally retarded with the term intellectual disability in some federal statutes.^[37]

See also[link]

• Secondary handicap
• History of psychiatric institutions

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up retard in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• FAQ on intellectual disabilities from the US Centers for Disease Control's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities

Michele Bachmann
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Mark Kennedy
Member of the Minnesota Senate from the 52nd district
In office January 7, 2003 – January 2, 2007
Preceded by	Satveer Chaudhary
Succeeded by	Ray Vandeveer
Member of the Minnesota Senate from the 56th district
In office January 3, 2001 – January 7, 2003
Preceded by	Gary W. Laidig
Succeeded by	Brian LeClair
Personal details
Born	Michele Marie Amble (1956-04-06) April 6, 1956 (age 56) Waterloo, Iowa, United States
Citizenship	United States
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Marcus Bachmann
Residence	Stillwater, Minnesota
Alma mater	Winona State University (B.A.)[1] Oral Roberts University (J.D.)[1] William & Mary Law School (LL.M.)[1]
Occupation	Attorney[2]
Religion	Evangelical Christian (formerly Lutheran)
Website	Official webpage at U.S. Congress Campaign website
This article is part of a series about Michele Bachmann 2012 presidential campaign Electoral history

Michele Marie Bachmann (pronounced /ˈbɑːkmən/;^[3] née Amble; born April 6, 1956)^[4] is an American Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Minnesota's 6th congressional district, a post she has held since 2007. The district includes several of the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Woodbury, and Blaine as well as Stillwater and St. Cloud.

She was a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2012 U.S. presidential election,^[5] winning the Ames Straw Poll in August 2011 but dropping out in January 2012 after finishing in sixth place in the Iowa caucuses. Bachmann previously served in the Minnesota State Senate and is the first Republican woman to represent the state in Congress.^[6] She is a supporter of the Tea Party movement^[7] and a founder of the House Tea Party Caucus.^[8]

Early life, education, and early career[link]

Bachmann was born Michele Marie Amble in Waterloo, Iowa "into a family of Norwegian Lutheran Democrats";^[9] her family moved from Iowa to Minnesota when she was 13 years old.^[10] After her parents divorced, Bachmann's father, David John Amble, moved to California, and Bachmann was raised by her mother, Arlene Jean (née Johnson), who worked at the First National Bank in Anoka, Minnesota.^[10][11][12] Her mother remarried when Bachmann was a teenager; the new marriage resulted in a family with nine children.^[13]

She graduated from Anoka High School in 1974 and, after graduation, spent one summer working on kibbutz Be'eri in Israel.^[14] In 1978, she graduated from Winona State University with a B.A.^[1]

In 1979, Bachmann was a member of the first class of the O. W. Coburn School of Law, then a part of Oral Roberts University (ORU).^[13] While there, Bachmann studied with John Eidsmoe, whom she described in 2011 as "one of the professors who had a great influence on me".^[15][16] Bachmann worked as a research assistant on Eidsmoe's 1987 book Christianity and the Constitution, which argues that the United States was founded as a Christian theocracy, and should become one again.^[13][15][16] In 1986 Bachmann received a J.D. degree from Oral Roberts University.^[1] She was a member of the final graduating class of the law school at ORU, and was part of a group of faculty, staff, and students who moved the ORU law school library to what is now Regent University.^[17]

In 1988, Bachmann received an LL.M. degree in tax law from the William & Mary School of Law.^[2][18] From 1988 to 1993, she was an attorney working for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).^[19] She left her position with the IRS to become a full-time mother^[20] when her fourth child was born.^[21]

Personal life[link]

Family[link]

Husband Marcus Bachmann and Michele at the 2011 Time 100 gala, where Michele was an honoree

In 1978, she married Marcus Bachmann, now a clinical therapist with a master's degree from Regent University and a Ph.D. from Union Graduate School,^[22] whom she had met while they were undergraduates.^[13][23] After she received an LL.M. in taxation from William & Mary School of Law in 1988, the couple moved to Stillwater, Minnesota, a town of 18,000 near St. Paul, where they run a Christian counseling center.^[13] Bachmann and her husband have five children (Lucas, Harrison, Elisa, Caroline, and Sophia). Bachmann said in a 2011 town hall meeting that she suffered a miscarriage after the birth of their second child, Harrison, an event which she said shaped her pro-life views.^[24]

Bachmann and her husband have also provided foster care for 23 other children,^[25][26] all teenage girls. The Bachmanns were licensed from 1992 to 2000 to handle up to three foster children at a time; the last child arrived in 1998. The Bachmanns began by providing short-term care for girls with eating disorders who were patients in a program at the University of Minnesota. The Bachmann home was legally defined as a treatment home, with a daily reimbursement rate per child from the state. Some girls stayed a few months, others more than a year.^[21]

In May 2012, it was reported that in addition to their U.S. citizenship, Bachmann and her husband had applied for Swiss citizenship^[27] for themselves and their three youngest children, and been granted it on March 19, 2012. They had been eligible for this under Swiss nationality law because Marcus Bachmann's parents were Swiss.^[27] Bachmann denied that she or her husband had recently applied for Swiss citizenship, saying that her husband had already been a dual citizen as the son of Swiss immigrants, and that she had automatically acquired Swiss citizenship under then-current Swiss law when she married him in 1978; however, when asked by a Swiss Television reporter on May 8, 2012, "I understand you just got Swiss Citizenship," Bachmann's reply was, "Yes, we did."^[28] Marcus Bachmann did not register the marriage with the Swiss authorities until 2012.^[27][29] Within two days of the first reports of Bachmann's dual citizenship,^[30] she announced that she had written to the Swiss consulate to have her Swiss citizenship withdrawn.^[31]

Religion[link]

Bachmann was a longtime member of Salem Lutheran Church in Stillwater. She and her husband withdrew their membership on June 21, 2011, just before she officially began her presidential campaign. They had not attended the congregation for over two years.^[32][33] Salem Lutheran Church is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. When challenged about that denomination's belief that the Pope is the Antichrist,^[34][35][36] Bachmann responded by stating, "I love Catholics, I'm a Christian, and my church does not believe that the Pope is the Anti-Christ, that's absolutely false."^[37] A spokesman for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights said they see "no evidence of any bigotry" in Mrs Bachmann.^[38] More recently, according to friends, the Bachmanns began attending Eagle Brook Church, an Evangelical church closer to their home.^[39]

Bachmann has cited theologian Francis Schaeffer as a "profound influence" on her life and her husband's, specifically referring to his film series How Should We Then Live?.^[15][16] She has also described Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity by Nancy Pearcey as a "wonderful" book.^[15] Journalist Ryan Lizza has argued that Bachmann's worldview is deeply influenced by the Christian movement known as Dominionism, citing the influence of Schaeffer and Pearcey as evidence.^[15] Others have criticized Lizza's article, especially its connection of Schaeffer with Dominionism.^[40][41][42] However, religion writer Sarah Posner broadly concurs with Lizza, pointing to the influence of Christian Reconstructionists Herb Titus and R. J. Rushdoony on Bachmann via the curriculum at O. W. Coburn School of Law.^[43][44]

Businesses[link]

Bachmann and her husband own a Christian counseling practice named Bachmann & Associates.^[45][46] The clinic is run by her husband, who has a PhD with “a concentration in clinical psychology”^[47] from Union Graduate School. Marcus Bachmann is not a licensed clinical psychologist in Minnesota.^[48] The clinic received nearly $30,000 from Minnesota government agencies between 2006 and 2010 in addition to at least $137,000 in federal payments and $24,000 in government grants for counselor training.^[49] When asked about the subject in an interview, Bachmann indicated that she and her husband had not benefited at taxpayers' expense, saying that "the money that went to the clinic was actually training money for employees".^[50] Marcus Bachmann has denied allegations that Bachmann & Associates provides conversion therapy, a controversial psychological treatment repudiated by the American Psychological Association, which attempts to transform homosexuals into heterosexuals.^[51][52] A former client of Bachmann's clinic and a hidden camera investigator with the activist group Truth Wins Out have said that therapists at the clinic do engage in such practices,^[53][54] although columnist Mariah Blake of The Nation has suggested the hidden camera investigator may have been intentionally baiting the therapist to say something controversial.^[51] In a subsequent interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune, Marcus Bachmann did not deny that he or other counselors at his clinic used the technique but said they did so only at the request of a client.^[32]

In personal financial disclosure reports for 2006 through 2009, Bachmann reported earning $32,500 to $105,000^[50] from a farm that was owned at the time by her ailing father-in-law, Paul Bachmann. The farm received $260,000 in federal crop and disaster subsidies between 1995 and 2008.^[55] Bachmann said that in 2006–2009, her husband acted as a trustee of the farm for his dying father and so, out of "an abundance of caution", she claimed the farm as income in financial disclosures, though it was her in-laws who profited from the farm during that period.^[56]

Early political activism[link]

Bachmann grew up in a Democratic family, but she says she became a Republican during her senior year at Winona State. She told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that she was reading Gore Vidal's 1973 novel, Burr: "He was kind of mocking the Founding Fathers and I just thought, I just remember reading the book, putting it in my lap, looking out the window and thinking, 'You know what? I don't think I am a Democrat. I must be a Republican.'"^[10][57]

While still a Democrat, she and her then-fiancé Marcus were inspired to join the pro-life movement by Francis Schaeffer's 1976 Christian documentary film, How Should We Then Live?^[58] They prayed outside of clinics and engaged in sidewalk counseling,^[18] a pro-life protest activity in which activists approach people entering abortion clinics in an attempt to dissuade women from obtaining abortions.^[59] Since then, Bachmann has made statements supportive of sidewalk counseling.^[60] Bachmann was a supporter of Jimmy Carter in 1976, and she and her husband worked on his campaign.^[61] During Carter's presidency, Bachmann became disappointed with his liberal approach to public policy, support for legalized abortion and economic decisions she held responsible for increased gas prices. In the 1980 presidential election, she voted for Ronald Reagan and worked for his campaign.^[18][62]

Her political activism gained media attention at a pro-life protest in 1991. She and approximately 30 other pro-life citizens went to a Ramsey County Board meeting where a $3 million appropriation was to go to build a morgue for the county at St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center (now Regions Hospital). The Medical Center performed abortions and employed pro-choice activist Jane Hodgson. Bachmann attended the meeting to protest public tax dollars going to the hospital; speaking to the Star Tribune, she said that "in effect, since 1973, I have been a landlord of an abortion clinic, and I don't like that distinction".^[19][63]

In 1993, she and other parents started the K-12 New Heights Charter School in Stillwater. The publicly funded school's charter mandated that it be non-sectarian in all programs and practices, but the school soon developed a strong Christian orientation. Parents of students at the school complained and the superintendent of schools warned Bachmann that the school was in violation of state law. Six months after the school's founding Bachmann resigned and the Christian orientation was removed from the curriculum, allowing the school to keep its charter.^[16][64][65] Bachmann began speaking against a state-mandated set of educational standards, which propelled her into the world of politics.^[66]

Bachmann became a critic and opponent of Minnesota's School-to-Work policies. In a 1999 column, she wrote: "School-to-Work alters the basic mission and purpose of K-12 academic education away from traditional broad-based academic studies geared toward maximizing intellectual achievement of the individual. Instead, School-to-Work utilizes the school day to promote children's acquisition of workplace skills, viewing children as trainees for increased economic productivity."^[67]

In November 1999, she and four other Republicans were candidates, as the "Slate of Five", in an election for the school board of Stillwater. All five lost.^[13]

Minnesota Senate[link]

In 2000, Bachmann defeated 18-year incumbent Gary Laidig for the Republican nomination for State Senator for Minnesota District 56. In the November 2000 general election, she defeated Ted Thompson of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) and Lyno Sullivan of the Minnesota Independence Party, to win the seat. Two years later, in November 2002, after redistricting due to the 2000 Census, Bachmann defeated another incumbent, State Senator Jane Krentz of the DFL, in the newly drawn State Senate District 52. In office, Bachmann's agenda focused on the cultural conservative issues of opposition to abortion and gay marriage.^[21]

Same-sex marriage constitutional amendment[link]

On November 20, 2003, Bachmann and Representative Mary Liz Holberg proposed a constitutional amendment that would bar the state from legally recognizing same-sex marriage.^[68] In 2004, Bachmann and a coalition of religious leaders announced plans for a "Minnesota for Marriage" rally.^[69] Bachmann's effort to place a marriage amendment on a referendum ballot in 2004 ultimately failed. She resurrected her proposal in March 2005^[70] but it stalled indefinitely in a senate committee that April.^[71]

Assistant Minority Leader[link]

In November 2004, Republican Senate Minority Leader Dick Day appointed Bachmann as Assistant Minority Leader in charge of Policy for the Senate Republican Caucus.^[72] In July 2005, the Republican Caucus removed her from her leadership position. Bachmann said that disagreements with Day over her anti-tax stance were the reason for her ouster.^[73]

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Since being elected in November 2006, Bachmann has served Minnesota's 6th congressional district, which includes the northernmost and eastern suburbs of the Twin Cities and St. Cloud. She is the first Republican woman to be elected to the U.S. House from Minnesota.^[45]

110th Congress[link]

Iraq War troop surge[link]

In January 2007, a resolution was approved in the House of Representatives opposing President George W. Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq. Bachmann voted "No". However, before supporting the proposed surge, Bachmann called for a full hearing, saying, "The American people deserve to hear and understand the merits of increasing U.S. troop presence in Iraq. Increased troop presence is justifiable if that measure would bring a swift conclusion to a difficult conflict."^[74] She hesitated to give a firm endorsement, calling the hearings "a good first step in explaining to the American people the course toward victory in Iraq".^[75] When pressed, she said she had not come to any conclusion on the matter,^[75] saying, "I don't believe we have all of the information in front of us. As a member of Congress that's why I want to go to Iraq as quickly as I can. I want to get the best information in front of me."^[76]

Member of Congressional delegation[link]

In July 2007, Bachmann joined a Congressional delegation visiting Ireland, Germany, Pakistan, Kuwait and Iraq. Bachmann met briefly (due to security concerns) with U.S. personnel in the Green Zone and upon her return she said she "was encouraged by reports of progress from Crocker, Gen. David Petraeus and other personnel in Iraq linked to the surge."^[77] She said the surge "hasn't had a chance to be in place long enough to offer a critique of how it's working. (Gen. Petraeus) said al-Qaida in Iraq is off its plan and we want to keep it that way. The surge has only been fully in place for a week or so."^[77]

Bachmann also spoke of the delegation's visit to Islamabad to meet Pakistani Prime Minister Aziz at the same time as the siege of Islamic fundamentalists at the Lal Masjid mosque elsewhere in the city.^[77] She reported that "The group [of U.S. Legislators] had to travel in armored vehicles and was constantly accompanied by Pakistani military....We were all able to see extremely up close and personal what it's like to be in a region where fighting is occurring. We constantly felt like we were in need of security."^[77] Bachmann told reporters upon her return that "the dangers posed by Islamic terrorism in Iraq, Britain and Pakistan justified the continued American military presence in Iraq."^[77] She said "We don't want to see al-Qaida get a presence in the United States. Al-Qaida doesn't seem to show any signs of letting up. We have to keep that in mind."^[77]

Opposition to higher education finance bill[link]

On July 11, 2007, Bachmann voted against the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that would raise the maximum Pell grant from $4,310 to $5,200, lower interest rates on subsidized student loans to 3.4 percent from 6.8 percent, raise loan limits to $30,500 from $7,500, disfavor married students who file joint tax returns, provide more favorable repayment terms to students who do not use their education to prosper financially^[78] and favor public sector over private sector workers with much more favorable loan forgiveness benefits.^[79] Supporters of the bill said "it would allow more students to attend college".^[80] Bachmann said her opposition was because "it fails students and taxpayers with gimmicks, hidden costs and poorly targeted aid. It contains no serious reform of existing programs, and it favors the costly, government-run direct lending program over nonprofit and commercial lenders."^[80] The bill passed the House^[80] and was signed by President Bush.^[81]

Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act[link]

In March, 2008 Bachmann introduced H.R. 849, the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act. If passed, it would repeal two sections of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, signed into law by George W. Bush. The 2007 Energy Act mandates energy efficiency and labeling standards for incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. Bachmann's bill would require the Government Accountability Office to show that a change to fluorescent bulbs would have "clear economic, health and environmental benefits" prior to enforcement of lighting efficiency regulations. The bill does, however, allow these standards to remain in place if the comptroller general were to find that they will lead to consumer savings, reduced carbon-dioxide emissions and pose no health risks to consumers (such as risks posed by the presence of mercury in fluorescent bulbs). The bill languished in the House and became inactive at the end of the 110th Congress. Bachmann reintroduced the bill in March 2011.^[82][83][84]

Class action lawsuits[link]

On June 3, 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act (H.R. 4008) into law. The bipartisan bill, which Bachmann cosponsored with Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.), removes statutory damages for violations of a 2003 federal law prohibiting merchants from printing consumers' credit card numbers and expiration dates on sales receipts, in order to end class-action lawsuits aimed at businesses that violated the law.^[85]

Domestic oil and gas production[link]

During the summer of 2008, as national gasoline prices rose to over $4 a gallon, Bachmann became a leading Congressional advocate for increased domestic oil and natural gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Outer Continental Shelf.^[86] She joined 10 other House Republicans and members of the media on a Congressional Energy Tour to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, and to Alaska. The trip was set up by Arctic Power, an Alaskan lobbying group that advocates for ANWR development. The purpose of the trip was to receive a first hand account of emerging renewable energy technologies and the prospects of increased domestic oil and natural gas production in Alaska, including ANWR.^[87]

Global warming skepticism[link]

Bachmann has charged that global warming is a hoax^[88] and has been a vocal skeptic of global warming.^[89] She has asserted that since carbon dioxide is "a natural byproduct of nature", it is a beneficial gas required by plant life. She stated that because life requires carbon dioxide and it is part of the planet's life cycle, it cannot be harmful. In a statement she made on the House floor on Earth Day, April 22, 2009, Bachmann stated she was against the cap and trade climate legislation, stating: "Carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, it is a harmless gas. Carbon dioxide is natural; it is not harmful.... We're being told we have to reduce this natural substance to create an arbitrary reduction in something that is naturally occurring in the earth."^[90]

Opposition to financial sector bailout[link]

Bachmann opposed both versions of the Wall Street bailout bill for America's financial sector.

She voted against the first proposed $700 billion bailout of financial institutions, which failed to pass 205–228. She also advocated breaking up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and barring executives from excessive compensation or golden parachutes. However, she also advocated a plan that would suspend mark-to-market accounting rules and supported suspending the capital gains tax.^[91]

The "Big Three" automakers; Ford, Chrysler and General Motors, approached Congress to ask for roughly $15 billion to keep them operational into 2009. Bachmann criticized that bill, fearing that the initial sum of money would be followed by subsequent ones without the companies making changes to revive their business. Bachmann supported an alternative bail-out for the Big Three and the rest of the auto industry rather than the plan that passed. According to Bachmann, her alternative would set benchmarks for reducing their debt and renegotiating labor deals and would set up the financial assistance as interim insurance instead of a taxpayer-financed bailout.^[92]

Accusations of Barack Obama having anti-American views[link]

On October 17, 2008, Bachmann gave an interview on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews in support of the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain that brought the Minnesota 6th Congressional District race national attention. During the interview she criticized Barack Obama for his association with Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers, saying "...usually we associate with people who have similar ideas to us, and it seems that it calls into question what Barack Obama's true beliefs, and values, and thoughts are...I am very concerned that he [Barack Obama] may have anti-American views." She noted the bombing campaign orchestrated by Bill Ayers before discussing his association with Barack Obama, arguing that "Bill Ayers is not someone the average American wants to see their president have an association with."^[93] Matthews followed up by asking "But he [Obama] is a Senator from the State of Illinois; he's one of the members of Congress you suspect of being anti-American. How many people in the Congress of the United States do you think are anti-American? You've already suspected Barack Obama, is he alone or are there others?" Bachmann answered, "What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating exposé and take a look ... I wish they would ... I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out are they pro-America, or anti-America. I think people would love to see an exposé like that."^[94]

The five Democratic members of Minnesota's congressional delegation – Tim Walz, Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison, Collin Peterson and Jim Oberstar – issued a joint statement in which they questioned her ability to "work in a bipartisan way to put the interests of our country first in this time of crisis".^[95] Former Secretary of State Colin Powell^[96][97] and former Minnesota Governor Republican Arne Carlson^[98] said that her comments had influenced their decisions to endorse Obama for president.

Bachmann brought up the interview before business leaders and Republicans during a campaign stop in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on October 21, 2008. She stated that she never intended to question Obama's patriotism. "I made a misstatement. I said a comment that I would take back. I did not, nor do I, question Barack Obama's patriotism.... I did not say that Barack Obama is anti-American nor do I believe that Barack Obama is anti-American ... [But] I'm very concerned about Barack Obama's views. I don't believe that socialism is a good thing for America."^[99] However, in March 2010, Bachmann said, "I said I had very serious concerns that Barack Obama had anti-American views-- and now I look like Nostradamus" while speaking at a fund-raiser for the Susan B. Anthony List.^[100][101] A year later, in March 2011, Bachmann was asked on Meet the Press if she still believed that Obama held un-American views. She responded "I believe that the actions of this government have, have been emblematic of ones that have not been based on true American values." Pressed for clarification, she said "I've already answered that question before. I said I had very serious concerns about the president's views."^[102]

111th Congress[link]

Bachmann speaking in April 2010

Global currency[link]

On March 26, 2009, following comments by China proposing adoption of a global reserve currency, Bachmann introduced a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to bar the dollar from being replaced by a foreign currency. Current law prohibits foreign currency from being recognized in the U.S., but Bachmann expressed concerns relating to the President's power to make and interpret treaties.^[103] Earlier that month, at a Financial Services Committee hearing, Bachmann asked both Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke if they would reject calls for the U.S. to move away from the U.S. dollar and they replied that they would reject such a call.^[104]

2010 Census[link]

In a June 17, 2009, interview with The Washington Times, Bachmann expressed concern that the questions on the 2010 United States Census had become "very intricate, very personal" and that ACORN, a community organizing group that had come under fire the previous year, might be part of the Census Bureau's door-to-door information collection efforts. She stated, "I know for my family the only question we will be answering is how many people are in our home, we won't be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn't require any information beyond that."^[105] According to Politifact her statement was incorrect, as the watchdog group confirmed that the Constitution does require citizens to complete the census.^[106] Fellow Republican Representatives Patrick McHenry (N.C.), Lynn Westmoreland (Ga.) and John Mica (Fla.) – members of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and National Archives, which oversees the census – subsequently asked Bachmann not to boycott the population count.^[107]

Along with Congressman Ted Poe (Tex.-02), Bachmann introduced the American Community Survey Act to limit the amount of personal information solicited by the U.S. Census Bureau.^[108] She reiterated her belief that the census asks too many personal questions.^[109]