Retard. Typing this word makes me cringe — not because I'm thinking about people with intellectual disabilities, but because the word has evolved to stand for much more than that. The term "mental retardation" is an antiquated term to describe someone with an intellectual delay, although it still appears in laws and even some of my outdated Special Education textbooks.
However, the term means something different now. You call your friends retarded for acting stupid. You call the kid who got the lowest score on the bio test a retard because you think he's dumb. You call your sister a retard for being the slowest to get ready. And every time you say "retarded" instead of "slow" or "stupid," you're perpetuating the stereotype that individuals with disabilities are slow or stupid too, which couldn't be further from the truth. Many of these people understand more than the world credits them for and work harder than any of us to overcome obstacles we can't even imagine.
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In the words of John Franklin Stephens, Special Olympics athlete with Down syndrome who is pictured above, "You, and society, need to learn that being compared to people like me should be considered a badge of honor. No one overcomes more than we do and still loves life so much."
We think of the R-word as an insult, but being compared to individuals with disabilities should not be a bad thing. Being compared to someone with an intellectual delay should be a compliment, because it means that you persevere when the world is not in your favor and that you work harder than everyone else, even if it means you still might be told that you're not good enough.
You never need to call someone "stupid," but next time you do, don't compare their moment of acting dumb to a lifelong struggle to succeed that people with disabilities face.
