Using the "r-word" is disrespectful in more ways than one. When you are describing something that you think is stupid, or dumb or something you just don't like, and you use the "r-word", you are being more disrespectful than you may think.
Living with a disabled brother has probably improved my life for the better. I am 14, almost 15, and my brother turned 16 in may. The two of us fight all of the time, but that is because we are siblings, and siblings fight. He says rude things to me all of the time, but that is because he is a 16-year-old boy, talking to his little sister. Not because he is disabled. I may complain about my brother, and say how mean he is to me, but I will fight with everything I have in me to defend him. There are few things in this world that I hate more than when people use the "r-word" and make fun of people with disabilities.
My brother, (despite the fact that we fight all the time), is one of the sweetest, most loving person I have ever met. He doesn't know that not everyone will be his friend. Even when people are rude, and bully him, he will still run up to them and hug them the next time he see's them. He cares about everybody and everything. When I get home from school, he hugs me and asks me how my day was.
Why bully and make fun of a human being for something they can't change? Being bullied is horrible no matter who you are, but, when you get bullied about something you were born with or something that is permanent, it is even worse. I can remember countless days where my brother would come home crying, or upset, because kids at his school would emotionally, and physically bully him and call him the "r-word".
At the end of the day, we are all still human. Living with a disabled brother has changed my view on the world, but I never knew a world without him. Kids at my school will get mad at me when I ask them not to use the "r-word" but honestly, it shouldn't even be allowed in school, or at home. Underneath our skin, we are all the same, the only difference is, they have hearts of gold, and they are sparkling, while we, we are just plain boring.
