Spread the Word to End the Word

I know I've been a bit on my soapbox with my recent posts, but I said from the beginning that the purpose of this blog, aside from keeping family and friends up-to-date, was to raise awareness about Down syndrome and other issues related to it.

I have never been comfortable with the word "retard(ed)," though I'm ashamed to admit that I can't say with 100% certainty that I've never used that word in the past.  I can say, however, that I certainly have not come close to uttering the R-word since Luke's birth.  His birth and his presence in our lives made me realize how incredibly disrespectful and demeaning this word is...no matter the context.  I've heard many people use the R-word, both before and since Luke came into our lives.  While biting my tongue in the past, I'm not sure how, as a mother of a special needs child, I can do so any longer.

I had every intention of sitting down tonight to write a post about Jackson and Olivia, along with some great pictures that fully represent their personalities lately (Jackson = my little costume fanatic and Olivia = my busy little climber), and then I saw this on Facebook and just had to post...

Spread the Word to End the Word is an ongoing effort by Special Olympics, Best Buddies International and our supporters to raise the consciousness of society about the dehumanizing and hurtful effects of the word “retard(ed)” and encourage people to pledge... to stop using the R-word. The campaign, created by youth, is intended to engage schools organizations and communities to rally and pledge their support. Most activities are centered annually in March, but people everywhere can help Spread the Word throughout their communities and schools year-round thru pledge drives, youth rallies and online activation. The effort is spearheaded by college students, Soeren Palumbo (Notre Dame 2011) and Tim Shriver (Yale 2011), and led by young people, Special Olympics athletes and Best Buddies partners across the country. Celebrity activist John C. McGinley of the hit show “Scrubs” is a spokesperson for the campaign. Respectful and inclusive language is essential to the movement for the dignity and humanity of people with intellectual disabilities. However, much of society does not recognize the hurtful, dehumanizing and exclusive effects of the word “retard(ed).” It is time to address the minority slur “retard” and raise the consciousness of society to its hurtful effects. See More