The "R-Word"

The word "retard" is carelessly thrown around in everyday language, and is accepted as something 'okay' to say. However, the r-word carries with it the same weight as any other derogatory terms, like those used against people of different ethnic backgrounds or race or of different sexual orientation.It causesthe same hurt and damage to others.

How we speak and the language we use helps to form our perception of the world and others around us. Throwing around demeaning slurs like "retard" forms a negative perception of people with 'intellectual disabilities,' twisting them and turning them into something that they are not. It make others think that impaired people are stupid or losers.

When this happens, the way we treat these people who are cognitively impaired changes too.
I'm sure you can remember back to learning about the Civil Rights Movement in school?
The way that blacks were segregated from the "superior" whites before and during this time. They were treated as inferior and like they did not deserve better.

This is similar to how the problem is unfolding today with the way intellectually disabled citizens are treated in society.

The thought is, according to a worldwide survey of over 190 nations, because a person is "retarded" they should not be educated in the same schools, they should not be working in "mainstream" workplaces, and they should be pitied because they are not the same as us.

This view of people with intellectual disabilities is ridiculous, and it's all thanks to the everyday use of the r-word. Just because one person is different does not make them any less important than any other person. Once the world starts realizing this maybe there will be less hate and more respect and equality.

So next time you go to say the word "retard" to mean that something is "stupid," here's something clever, why not just try saying stupid? 

Sources: http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/07/living/end-r-word/index.html?iref=allsearch