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.
Retarded
noun
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(used with a plural verb) people who are slow or limited in mental development (usually preceded by the)
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Example:
new schools for the retarded.
Retard as A Medical Term
“Such children are also described as ‘backward’, or of ‘retarded mental development’.”
In G. E. Shuttleworth’s Mentally-Deficient Children, he uses the word “retarded” for one of the first times in relation to a mental deficiency.
The first shift in meaning and usage of the word "retarded" comes during the late 19th- early 20th centuries.
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During this time the word was used as a medical term to define a person with a mental disability or developmental delay.
Pediatrics in Review Journal (2012) :
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"Intellectual disability is a general term for what has previously been described as mental retardation...The term mental retardation is still in use in many settings, including by some clinicians, and is found in legal and public policies that determine eligibility for support."
The word retarded then morphed into the phrase,"Mental Retardation", as a medical terminology. This phrase came to define a population of people. "Mental Retardation" is still being used with this meaning for medical purposes in 2016.
Pediatrics in Review 2006:
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"Mental retardation (MR) is one of the more common developmental disabilities. It can be idiopathic and challenging to recognize in normal-appearing children who have developmental delays. Conversely, MR can be easily recognized when the child presents with dysmorphic features associated with a known genetic MR disorder. Mental retardation currently is defined by the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) as “significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning accompanied by significant limitations in adaptive functioning in a least two of the following skills areas: communication, self-care, social skills, self-direction, academic skills, work, leisure, health and/or safety. These limitations manifest themselves before 18 years of age.” (1) Recognizing that a numerical value alone may be neither precise nor adequate to distinguish between the abilities of a child whose intelligence quotient (IQ) is 71 and one whose IQ is 69, the AAMR defines the upper limit of subaverage general intellectual functioning as “70 to 75” when there are also significant concerns regarding adaptive abilities."
