Dear person who made fun of someone with Down Syndrome for retweets,

My sole purpose for composing this piece is so I can convey to you how appalling it was to be scrolling through Twitter and find your tweet. An image of a young man with Down Syndrome playing basketball with the phrase, "What in retardation" captioning the image. I wish I could say that this was the first time I have seen a tweet such as this but the sad reality is, it's not. It isn't even the first time I've seen this very image used to mock individuals with disabilities playing sports. I hope whoever you are, this article somehow makes its way to you. I sincerely hope you read my words and understand that while on one hand I am sensitive to this word, I also have my reasons for it.

This was not an accidental use of the r-word to mean "stupid" (which is also never okay but forgivable.) This was a malicious exploitation of someone with an intellectual disability, something they were born with. A disability is like a skin color, judging someone for it is cruel, doesn't make sense, and needs to be stopped. Why is the n-word offensive? Because when used it is a reminder of the injustice that African Americans faced. Therefore, it is inappropriate and should never be used. This is how we should view the r-word. Before doctors had proper research of those with Special Needs, they believed everyone possessing them were inherently slow; this is what retarded means: slow. After they had done proper research we found that they are not all slow and are in fact capable of everything someone without Special Needs is capable of. The phrases "mentally retarded," "mental retardation," etc. have been removed from medical dictionaries and therefore should not be used when describing someone's specific disability.

Why do people still use phrases such as, "That's so retarded"? It is because people with Special Needs have an inaccurate stigma surrounding them of being unintelligent. When you are using the r-word as a synonym for stupid, you are associating someone with Special Needs as being stupid. They are not a synonym for stupid.

Lastly, it should NEVER be used to go after someone with Special Needs to make fun of them, belittle them, or make them feel as though you are more worthy of respect than they are. And you, various twitter-goers, have done this. And this is why it hurts me so deeply when I see this being done:

I was fourteen years old, a freshman in high school. I didn't play sports, I didn't have outstanding hobbies, and I had no idea what I was good at. I felt lost and alone in the world. When the idea for going to a camp for adults with Special Needs was mentioned I thought, "Sure, anything to make me feel like I have a purpose." When I was (basically) a child entering Camp Marc I had no idea what to expect, all I knew was that everyone loved it. The day the camper's arrived I understood what everyone was talking about. Campers would approach me and say, "I missed you so much!" even if we hadn't met before. I would reply, "I missed you too!" and at the time I was just playing along but I now understand that in a way I really had missed them. There was a void in my life that couldn't be filled with anything else other than this camp.

Camp Marc helped me understand what true, unconditional love was. When I woke up tired, ugly, and sweaty they still wanted to hug and hang out with me. After camp I got involved with Special Olympics, CLS work, and more. And through these different organizations I've finally found what I'm good at: I'm good at painting fingers mediocrely on a cabin floor, I'm a good bowling partner for Special Olympics, I'm good at finding humor in a child with autism's brutally honest outlook on life, and I'm really good at giving hugs and saying goodbye to someone I love so much. And it never, ever gets any easier.

I have never felt love like that. I've never spent a week with someone and cried my eyes out when they had to leave me. I never thought I'd hold onto little beaded bracelets they made me four years ago. I never imagined myself getting a tattoo of one of my camper's drawings but here I am. I did not think I would fall head over heels in love with this "intellectual disability" like I did, but I did. And this is why it hurts me when you make fun of them.

I'm truly sorry you have clearly never experienced happiness and love that they have the power to give and I truly hope you find that happiness somewhere. I hope you've learned from this experience; that hurting so many people is not worth 1,000 retweets. I will make the choice to forgive but I won't forget. The only reason I choose to forgive is because I know my friends with extra chromosomes would do the same.

Lastly, to the organizations that made me love this deep, I will never be able to thank you enough. Thank you for the love, the laughs, the tears, and the bracelets. You put sparkle in my life and happiness in my heart even if we don't see each other often. You all matter and I will fight for you every time I see this. And if you're on my team, I encourage you to not be silent. Stand up for those who cannot advocate for themselves and be the generation that ends this disgusting mistreatment.

Love,

Someone who understands the beauty in disabilities