Spread the Word to End the Word
-- March 7, 2012 is the National "Spread the Word to End the Word" Awareness Day --
The "R-WORD" (retarded) is a slang for Mental-Retardation, a term that doctors or professionals use to identify children or persons with an intellectual impairment. Unfortunately, in today's world, the term is used loosely to insult or call some one "stupid". It is important to remember that people with Mental Retardation are NOT stupid nor shall they be the root of all insults.
Regardless of whether it is meant to be hurtful or rude, IT IS.
Please note: As of October 10, 2010, the term Mental Retardation was officially changed to "Intellectual Disability" from a law passed by President Obama known as Rosa's Law.
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Have you ever heard a friend, colleague, family member, or even stranger use the word 'retard' or 'retarded'? I would say that approximately 99% of Americans have used or heard this word used in a derogatory manner.
The most common phrases that I witness are...
"That's so retarded"- "Stop being such a retard" - "You're retarded"
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It IS offensive. It IS rude. It IS hurtful. It IS wrong.
To family members
.friends.
.loved ones.
.victims.
.people.
So my question to you is this.
What are YOU going to do about it?
I challenge you to take a stand. Confront others and educate them about the derogatory meaning of the r-word. Encourage others to eliminate the word. Be a change. Help make a difference.
Click here to take the pledge
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::As of March 6, 2012::
people on the world wide web have used the r-word
2 comments:
Erin I absolutely love that you wrote about this! My little sister has autism and my mom has made it a rule in our house that no one is allowed to say it. It is so offensive and hurtful and I hate when people say it. Too many people say it without thinking how offensive it really is.
Great post. I am totally going to link up to this on Thursday!
--Nichole
I made this resolve a few years ago and I'll be honest there are two occasions since then where it's just totally slipped out of my mouth. It's so mortifying that such a nasty word can be so commonplace in our language.
Good luck having patience waiting to hear about grad school!
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