As a mother of a child with special needs, I share this with you all. It is a movement to stop having people referred to as a “retard”. Even from my youth I can remember the hurt this word carried with all children. Its demeaning, hurtful, and just plain rude.
Having a mental delay is not the end of the world. It is not a sentance to have a life filled with dread or disappointment. And it doesn’t mean stupidity. But far too often people who are ignorant use the word too loosely and end up hurting people without ever knowing what they’ve said was unacceptable. This comes from upbringing and the general population in a certain area. Those are reasons, but they are not excuses. Be wise to the new “R” word in the world…”RESPECT”.
Michelle,
I completely agree with you. “Retard” should not be used to describe a person.
We were out fishing the other weekend and I went to buy a hot dog from a stand that was selling food for an organization. I asked the fellow at the stand who the proceeds went to and what the abbreviations meant. I was taken aback that the “R” in the abbreviation stood for Retarded. It sounded so horrible to be calling these people “retarded”.
Just because someone has to do something a little differently does not mean they should be called or referred to as retarded.
Especially in this day and age having to be so careful in not calling people out by their race, why are we still using the word “retarded”?
Ginny, unfortunately this happens a lot. Even in our state’s government (TN) they still use the word (DMSR) for the department that oversees the use of funds going to help people with disabilites, physical or mental. People have come a long way, but we have not yet gotten to where we need to be. Thanks so much for your comment!