By Raju Woodward, Gazette-Times Reporter gazettetimes.com

During the excitement of Crescent Valley High School’s pep rally Friday, four leadership students quieted the gym by delivering a powerful message. Seniors Gabriel Choi and Hayley De Carolis and juniors Drummond Fudge and Cesar MonRoy want to help eliminate casual use of the word retard at CV.

They showed a short film clip that featured actor John C. McGinley, who is famous for playing the role of acid-tongued Dr. Perry Cox on the TV show “Scrubs.” McGinley, who has a son with Down syndrome, is a spokesperson for the National Down Syndrome Society. During the clip, McGinley explains why he has never used the R-word in the comedy-drama, despite the fact that his character, Dr. Cox, is notorious for cutting the interns he supervises to the quick with his biting insults.

Retard is a legitimate word when used as a synonym, meaning to slow. It is a medical term as well, although perhaps somewhat dated and out of favor. But among teens and their peers — who put the emphasis on the first syllable — retard has become a commonly used insult word that can be hurtful to some students and to their friends, family and advocates.

Rest of the story…
http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/education/article_2e64f47a-1e1c-11e0-8a67-001cc4c002e0.html

Texas advocates rally to eliminate the phrase ‘mental retardation’
http://www.news8austin.com/content/275337/advocates-rally-to-eliminate-the-phrase–mental-retardation-?r=7337618721

A special request received by e-mail:

I was listening to the Steve Harvey morning show on Friday about 6:30 a.m. His show is out of NYC and is syndicated around the country. He read an e-mail message from a woman who heard him use the word retard in a joke he made on the air. She asked him not to use the word again and then provided a sincere and wonderful explanation of why that word should never be used.

He was gracious in his apology to her and said that he had never heard of the issues she raised. He did not realize its impact. He was appreciative of the message…….He should have stopped there… he went on to say that if it is just this one person’s opinion, he may not stop using the word in his jokes. But if more people felt the same way she did, then it would be another matter. He went on to joke about the issue with his in-studio colleagues.

Needless to say, I am asking that we show him that more people are of the same opinion in regard to using the “R” word. Below is a link to the show’s e-mail bag. He does read them. Please take a few seconds and send a quick e-mail that firmly and strongly asks him not to use the word again. Also, mention that it is more than one person who cares. Feel free to send him info!

Steve Harvey e-mail bag:
https://steveharvey.com/index.php?option=com_chronoconnectivity&Itemid=87

House Approves Bill Removing ‘Mental Retardation’ From Law

By Michelle Diament
September 23, 2010

The House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill Wednesday evening paving the way for the term “mental retardation” to be replaced with “intellectual disability” in many areas of federal law.

The legislation known as Rosa’s Law now goes to President Barack Obama who White House officials say intends to sign the measure.

Under the bill, the terms “mental retardation” and “mentally retarded” would be stripped from federal health, education and labor policy. “Intellectual disability” and “individual with an intellectual disability” would be inserted in their place

For the rest of the story go to disabilityscoop.com:
http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2010/09/23/house-approves-rosas-law/10346/

House to Vote On Replacing “Mental Retardation” with “Intellectual Disability”

By MICHELLE DIAMENT

September 21, 2010

The House of Representatives is expected to vote as early as Wednesday evening on a bill to replace the term “mental retardation” with “intellectual disability” in many areas of federal government.

The legislation known as Rosa’s Law was approved by the Senate in August. Under the bill, terminology would be altered in federal health, education and labor policy.

For the rest of the story go to DisabilityScoop.com;

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2010/09/21/house-rosas-law/10299/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObkxEXKoklI

The People Who ‘ARE’
from A Blog By Dave Hingsburger

It’s in the press again. I search to find out the context of the word. I see debates all over the web, people bemoaning the ‘politically correct’ and the ‘word police’ and making ridiculous claims about having to ban the concept of a ‘fire retardant’. Last I looked there’s never been a protest about products that protect from fire. Last I looked there’s only ever been protests about the use of a word that demeans a group of people.

No matter what the fearless defenders of freedom of speech say, there is a huge difference between a word to describe something that slows fire and someone who learns differently. There’s a huge difference between a thing and a person – but, no, maybe not. After reading their diatribes regarding their freedom to spit out hurtful words, they may, really, not see people with disabilities as fully human with a human heart capable human hurt.

Read the rest of the story:
http://davehingsburger.blogspot.com/2010/08/people-who-are.html?spref=fb 

Jennifer Aniston has come under fire for using the word “retard” during an interview.

On Live with Regis and Kelly Thursday, the Switch star, 41, was discussing dressing up as Barbra Streisand for the September issue of Harper’s Bazaar when she let the word slip.

“You’re playing dress up!” Regis told her. She replied, “Yes, I play dress up! I do it for a living, like a retard!”

Peter Berns, CEO of The Arc (a nonprofit advocate for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities), tells UsMagazine.com it was “extraordinarily offensive and inappropriate.”

“Frankly, someone in her position ought to know better,” he tells Us. “She is using language that is offensive to a large segment of the population in this country. We estimate that there are probably in excess of 5 million people in the country with intellectual disabilities, and when you think about all of them, their family members and friends, you’re talking about tens of millions of people who find the use of that term to be really offensive. Every time folks hear that word, it kind of reminds them of all the discrimination and oppression they’ve experienced in their lives. Even if it wasn’t intended to insult them, that is the effect of it.”

Full story: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebritynews/news/jennifer-aniston-blasted-for-using-the-word-retard-1970241

‘This has to stop:’ First-hand lessons on a word that causes pain
Sean Kirst / The Post-Standard Sean Kirst / The Post-Standard
Published: Tuesday, August 03, 2010, 4:53 PM   

In this Internet age, the word “retard” gets thrown around in an increasingly casual fashion. You’ll find it in Hollywood comedies, in television sit-coms, in the language of disc jockeys who see themselves as “edgy.” For many teens, it has become a regular expression of contempt, a way of labeling peers who seem culturally clueless.

For her part, Christine Paronis views the word as an emotional machete….

http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf/2010/08/post_71.html

A word of thanks for the Americans with Disabilities Act

by Haddayr Copley-Woods
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/07/23/woods/

As the physically disabled parent of a developmentally disabled child, I am deeply grateful today.

Things used to be different for people like us: such as for Barb, a girl I knew growing up. She was bright, ambitious and she also had a form of autism. Her parents had to fight to keep her in regular education classes — sometimes unsuccessfully. After the senior class elected her president, the faculty advisor resigned. The advisor said she wouldn’t work with a girl she called a “retard.” For Barb, the emotional and educational impact was devastating.

And in the ’70s and ’80s, all of this was perfectly legal.

Today, my autistic son has enthusiastic, educated teachers. He has mandated supports in his regular-ed classroom. He feels valued at school. No one has ever called him a “retard.”

All this because of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA outlawed discrimination against disabled people in employment, transportation, and education. It mandated reasonable accommodations.

And in 20 years, it has made a tremendous difference. We now have ramps, elevators, education plans, and wheel-chair-accessible crosswalks. Restaurants can’t ban our assistance dogs.

While the impact of the ADA has been profound, there is still a lot to do. Employers are still reluctant to hire disabled people. Studies have found disabled adults are two to three times more likely to live in poverty than adults without disabilities. And we’re still fighting for the Community Choice Act, which would help keep disabled people from being institutionalized.

But I have faith we’ll win those battles. Here’s why: the ADA didn’t give disabled people equal rights under the law. Disabled people took those rights. And gimps are hardcore.

I get choked up every time I roll my wheelchair onto a bus lift. I think about the protests in the ’80s. People blocking the road: Glorious, bold, furious people with palsy, paralysis, atrophied muscles, missing limbs. I think about them throwing themselves out of their wheelchairs onto hard, filthy city streets to block traffic. Shouting. Chanting. And yes, by golly, drooling, shrieking, and groaning as they were arrested.

It is thanks to those protestors in Denver and Cleveland, to sit-ins in Washington and San Francisco — thanks to decades of tireless activism in L.A., Chicago, and Boston — that we now have the ADA.

So, while we still have work to do, today I just want to say thanks to you wonderful, loud, fierce cripples. Thank you for your anger. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for what you’ve done for me and for my son. For all of us.

And if anyone sees me blinking hard on the bus lift some morning, don’t mistake my tears for pain: I cry because I’m so grateful and proud to be in such brilliant company.