Well, yesterday was the annual End the R-Word Day. The Special Olympics sponsored program had over 100,000 people sign the pledge to stop using the r-word. While it's nice to have a day of attention, it should only be the beginning. People should always be thoughtful of the words they choose.
My personal take on the word retarded is that it is a clinical term, mentally retarded describes a person's mental capabilities. Any other use of the word is just not good grammar. It's irresponsible to use the word outside of a clinical setting. Period!
As a parent of a special needs child with mental disabilities, I am pretty sensitive to the use of the word retard and I am not going to bore you with another story about it. You can read my first one if you'd like. http://1specialfamily.blogspot.com/2009/12/another-one-bites-dust-well-just-one.html
But don't stop there. Over the last few weeks, some pretty public people (and the political ones don't count) have shared some amazing stories on behalf of the Special Olympics campaign to End the R-Word. There is a button on my blog for you to go view some of those videos on their site. (Sign the pledge while you are there! )Here is one, though that threw me for a loop. Never in my wildest dreams could I have seen this one coming.
If Johnny Knoxville gets it, why doesn't every one else?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfMlrTV_5vY
3 comments:
Thank you so much for the reminder. I can be very careless with my words sometimes and am ashamed to say the R word still pops out every now and then. I am making a pledge today to never say it again unless as you said referring to it medically.
I know, RIGHT? JOHNNY KNOXVILLE!! I almost fell off the couch.
I came across your blog on the multiples site. I have twins and two singletons. As of now, our youngest has a genetic syndrome 16p11.2, PDD_NOS, and intellectual disability. We are in the midst of trying to get one of our twins tested as well. I have made it a point to not say the "R" word and have spread the word against using it. I ended up telling someone about it yesterday at the store when the cashier said it.
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