Nation Takes a Stand Against the 'R' Word

Image via R-word.org

When some Special Olympics athletes hear the “R” word being used, a few emotions run into their minds.

They feel hurt, anger, sadness and disgust, said Mary-Ellen Powers, a Special Olympics Rhode Island athlete from Barrington, RI.

Powers described her experiences with bullying and how the Special Olympics changed her life in her “Spread the Word to End the Word” blog that was published in the Huffington Post on Tuesday.

Her blog comes just in time for the annual day of awareness for the Spread the Word to End the Word Campaign on Wednesday, March 4.

The Special Olympics is asking people, schools and organizations across the country to pledge to stop using the word “retarded” in everyday speech and to promote the acceptance of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

People all across the nation are signing the pledge. Take the pledge against the “R” word here.

Seeing her friends become affected by the word is like “a knife cutting into my heart,” Powers said in her blog.

Read her entire blog posted by The Huffington Post here.

More than nine in 10 U.S. youths between the ages of 8 to 18 have heard others say the “R” word, and most of those have heard it used by their peers at school, according to a Special Olympics Global Collaborating Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston and Harris Interactive survey.

Read more:

• Should the ‘R’ Word Be Banned in Schools?

“The word itself has grown to mean a lot of different things, but ultimately, it still carries a harmful effect to those with disabilities,” said Michael Pearson, director of expansion and training at Best Buddies International.

The term “mental retardation” was replaced by the term “intellectual disability” in federal legislation in 2010. Although the “R” word no longer exists in health, education and labor laws, organizations across the globe are still campaigning to eliminate the word in casual speech. The “R” word, used maliciously or otherwise, still puts down those with IDD, Pearson said.

“We aren’t being politically correct, or the ‘word police.’ We are compassionate people who have been hurt by the sting of that one word and we don’t want anyone else hurt by it.,” Powers said in her blog. “Words DO hurt! We may learn at a slower rate, but we are not retarded.”