I don't disagree with anything you wrote, but in this article it was used in terms of, "Now we diagnose these behaviours as autism, whereas in the past they wou

I don't disagree with anything you wrote, but in this article it was used in terms of, "Now we diagnose these behaviours as autism, whereas in the past they would have been called mental retardation." In that context it's hard to see how someone would be offended by the word. That said, I think it's a stretch to be offended by the unusual asterisk as well (or to discount the rest of the post because of it).