Retard: More Than A Word To People With Developmental Disabilities

By Michele Lenni in Miscellaneous on Mar 15, 2011 7:00PM

Here at the Chicagoist offices it's really not uncommon to hear, shall we say, colorful language, being tossed around the office, especially when Tankboy commandeers the turntable and decides to play the musical stylings of his beloved slut-wave goddess Ke$ha. I will be the first to admit that I have used some rather "colorful" words that are not politically conscious to say the least, including, but not limited to the word, "retard." In fact the word "retard" is used more than 24,000 times daily on Twitter and who knows how many times it's tossed around on other social networking venues.

LifeMyWay, a community advocacy organization specializing in individuals with developmental disabilities, began a campaign entitled "The Social Challenge," which individuals to replace the word "retard" when speaking negatively in the Twitter-verse and beyond. Advocates for the The Social Challenge are encouraged to be active in the community. By vowing to help foster a society rooted in equality, the group hopes to grow a larger sense of community for everyone.

Though many look at those who have developmental disabilities as being more afflicted than disabled Holy Roos, Life My Way advocate and Canton, IL mother of two children with Fragile X syndrome thinks otherwise.

"The real disadvantage stems from the stereotypes and prejudices that society forces upon people with developmental disabilities...every human being has strengths and weaknesses, and everyone has the right to be seen for who they are as a person rather than what they cannot do.

In order to take this message to the next level the Social Challenge website enables its users to respond to tweets that use the word "retard" to describe something negatively. This is where this Chicagoista draws the line. Yes, of course I am all for challenging yourself and others not to throw around words like "retard" or "gay" in our daily discourse online or otherwise by the means of education and advocacy. My problem is when you start scolding others for using these type of words on a worldwide social networking site it becomes more of a driving force to hold these individuals up to public scrutiny and shame than to educate these people as to why they shouldn't use this language in the first place. Funny, the same group trying to curb the shame and scorn of the people they advocate by doing the same to those they want to convert; a true contradiction in terms. Though the language is not the most sensitive or "politically correct," pointing fingers on a site viewed all over the world is not the best, nor the most intelligent, tactic to rally people to your cause.

Yes, we champion those who are advocates of the developmentally disabled. Yes, we encourage others to substitute language when it becomes offensive. We feel that through advocacy and education you can move minds, not through finger pointing. Malcolm X said it best, "A man only curses because he doesn't know the words to express what is on his mind."