LANGUAGE CAN HURT
We are moms of young children with developmental disabilities. We are your neighbors, your friends. We see you at baseball games, shopping, church, and the movies. When we think of our children, we use words like “beautiful” and “adorable.”
But often we hear words that hurt, words like the R-word, “retarded.”
People often use the R-word casually to insult and denigrate another person. Because the word is used in those ways, it’s easy to understand why as mothers we are hurt and concerned when we hear it. Over the years we have wondered about (and dreaded) the day when our children would come home after hearing and understanding the insinuation behind someone's use of the R-word.
The casual use of the word is so common that a week doesn't go by that we don't hear it. Every day we are reminded that our children are becoming more aware of their differences and so too are their peers. That day we've dreaded is fast approaching.
When famous movie stars, celebrities our children already know and love, take a hurtful word and tie a funny punch line around it, we need to worry about the fallout. That’s why we’re asking you today to think about the R-word, and the impact it has on the people around you, including our children. And we’d like you to consider a new R-word, RESPECT.
On behalf of our children, we thank you for reading, and for your thoughtfulness
Written By: Nancy Reader copied off of Downsyn.com
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