Notes On The R Word Pledge

By Lisa Brooks


The R word movement is ideally a national campaign in the United States that is usually aimed at encouraging all the citizens to avoid using offensive and dehumanizing terms such as retard. This term has a long history since it has been used for quite a while. The R word pledge thereby advocates for the believe that the usage of this term retarded in everyday or even colloquial speech is unacceptable, hurtful and very dehumanizing to the many individuals that have intellectual incapacities.

The movement mainly concentrates on advocating for the usage of language that accommodates and respects the integrity, dignity and value of intellectually impaired persons. Advocates strongly believe that people suffering from cognitive disabilities and any other developmental abnormalities are very much capable of enjoying their lives and experiences. Additionally, they maintain that that causal references to words retard and its various forms make intellectually disable individuals feel intimidated and less human.

Therefore, mocking them and using very offensive terms to refer to them, is very erroneous and should not be acceptable in the current day and era. They should thus be respected for what and how they are, since mocking or ridiculing makes they feel less appreciated or unwanted in society. This lowers their self-esteem and makes them detest themselves.

The history of this advocacy mission dates back in 2009, during the World games at the Special Olympics Globe Youths Summit, in 2009. Since then, the movement has been holding annual celebrations on the very first Wednesday of March, each year.

There has however been controversy that elicits from the fact that people are not sure of the intentions of the movement, and whether it seeks to ban the term retard completely, or if the term can be applied under certain contexts. The effort and intention of the advocacy is usually aimed at drawing the attention to the reality that large numbers of people living with intellectual impairments are normally hurt and feel offended when they are called retards. The main goal is to raise as much awareness as possible on the adverse impacts of this demeaning term.

Many people wonder about where they can find more materials that can help them host R-word events in their areas. The materials can be downloaded from various resource pages, and other merchandise that can be used to host events in the R-word store.

There is also some controversy surrounding the alternative terms that should be used in place of retard. Many experts believe that using intellectual disability is an ideal replacement for mental retardation. This is because many believe that retardation evokes the term retard, and thus brings up very demeaning and painful memories of ridicule and also rejection.

In conclusion, the most important thing to always remember is that all of us are one people, and therefore every person should and must always come before their state or particular condition, however complicated it could be.




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