Who will lead the field of mental retardation and the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) in the next decades? To find the answer to this question, we must look to the students of today. Bringing promising new professionals into the field must be an AAMR priority if we are to stay at the cutting edge of research, practice, and policy.
The average age of AAMR members is nearly 50, and students make up less than 3% (only 158) of our current membership. Further, AAMR student membership is decreasing. According to Charles Helman, former AAMR office staff member, the total number of student members listed in the membership database dropped from 220 to 158 between the years 2001 and 2002. This represents a drop in student membership from 3.1% to 2.5% of the entire membership. In contrast, AAMR has 525 Life members (AAMR members for longer than 30 years). The...