What does one mean when they call another person a retard (the r-word)? Is the point to compare that person who has done something irrational to someone who is diagnosed with a disability? According to the dictionary, a retard is defined as someone who is diagnosed as less advanced in mental, physical or social development than is usual for one's age. People diagnosed with disabilities do not choose to be different, rather they must live with the constant reminder that their disabilities set them apart every time someone calls another person a retard. Society has attempted to make forward steps towards eliminating the slur use of the r-word through programs like Special Olympics, Public Law 94-142, Spread the Word to End the Word, and the Rosa Law of 2010. People have finally begun to realize the importance of the elimination of the r-word due to the impact the word has on those with and without disabilities. When friendships are formed between peers with and without disabilities, students are less likely to use the r-word as social slang since they better understand the impact the word has on their fellow classmates. I believe that awareness and personal experience will help the new generation better understand why the r-word is inappropriate to use, so therefore I feel that inclusion classrooms should be implemented within school districts nationwide to encourage the interaction between students with and without disabilities. 

In 1968, Special Olympics began as one of the first movements to encourage the participation of people with disabilities in Olympic sports. Seven years later, in 1975, Public Law 94-142 was passed in order to better the lives of disabled students within the education system. In 2009, the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign began the acknowledgement of the word "retarded" as a slang, and the fight against the use of the word. Most recently, in 2010, the Rosa Law was passed which terminated the use of the word in federal health, education and labor laws. Through the implementation of these programs and federal laws, people diagnosed with disabilities have been given more opportunities to prosper in a society where they are seen as different. My own personal experience has rooted from my friendship with someone who is diagnosed with down syndrome, Cate Alix. Before I knew Cate personally, all I knew about her was that she had a disability and was hard to understand. These basic common assumptions and labels placed on Cate, and other people with disabilities caused me to wonder how true they actually were. In eighth grade, I joined Special Olympics, and that is where I met Cate. Cate is not any different than anyone else, she is funny, lazy, sarcastic, caring, laid back, and a good friend. Even though Cate has down syndrome, it never stopped her as she participated in Best Buddies, track and field, cheerleading, and soon went off to college to do even more there. One day I was with Cate getting ice cream when I heard the word that made it all so real. A group of young boys behind us in line called one of their friends a retard for falling down the stairs. The minute Cate heard the word her attitude changed. She was no longer excited to be getting ice cream, instead her eyes closed up as her smile disappeared. Someone was referring to their friend as being similar to her; as if she was stupid, foolish and an idiot because of her disability. The r-word does not only affect people with disabilities, but it also affects people like me, who feel the impact of the word as if they were disabled too. 

Society tends to always harp on the negatives rather than the positives, just as people see those who may act, talk or look uncommon as completely different from the rest of society. People with disabilities are more alike than different from societal norms. Four people diagnosed with disabilities share their stories in order to help people understand that they are not any different than the rest of society, but rather they are people who are sharing similar interests and habits as everyone else. Moira Rossi, a 20-year-old college student diagnosed with a disability states that her "goal is to be successful", just as everyone else wishes to be one day (Jones). Just because Moira and the other three people are disabled, they do not let having a disability "stop them one bit ... that down syndrome does not slow me (them) down. Its just what I (they) have in me (themselves)" (Jones). I am personally inspired that someone who struggles everyday with constant bullying is strong enough to overcome such obstacles. Someone who is diagnosed with a disability understands what a peer means when they call someone retarded: "they are human beings who have feelings, and they understand when people make fun of them" (Ring). Cassandra Ring expresses in an editorial that using the r-word is the same idea as calling someone stupid; the word is used carelessly when directed towards people without disabilities and demeaning to those with. People with disabilities are just like us, they play sports, watch movies, hangout with friends, go to school; so why do we treat them so differently. Kayetlin Wheeler best explains how the r-word is used today: as an adjective. People think they are using the word to describe something that is "dull, dumb, stupid, laughable, annoying", when in reality, every time the r-word is used, that person is referring to someone who is diagnosed with a disability (Wheeler). The dictionary has a million different words that can be used, but people choose to use the one word that has nothing to do with the context it is used in. People with disabilities are tired of society thinking of them differently. If only people understood that there are more similarities than there are differences. 

Everyday people diagnosed with disabilities hear the r-word used in ways to describe faults and mistakes, leaving them to feel isolated from societal norm. Before 2010, the medical term used to categorize people with disabilities was retard. People with disabilities do not choose that one day they wanted to be diagnosed, rather they are born with these traits. This term has shifted from a medical term, to a derogatory term in the midst of all disabled people. Jessie Huggett, a 25-year-old woman living with down syndrome expresses her mission to eradicate the use of the r-word worldwide: "its really hurtful and its really offensive" (Day). Jessie describes her time in high school where it was not uncommon for her to be bullied or referred to as a retard throughout the school day. However, what hurt Jessie more than being called a retard, was hearing other people use the word to describe an action. This is when Jessie realized that it did not matter how smart, strong, beautiful or successful she was, as long as retard was used to describe downfalls, she would be a downfall herself (Day). A similar story from John Franklin Stephens, a man diagnosed with down syndrome, appeared in the New York Times. John explained that "the hardest thing about having an intellectual disability is the loneliness. We are aware when all the rest of you stop and look at us" (Downes). Society does not seem to understand that this word is breaking people from the inside without even being noticed. When John hears the r-word being used "it means that the rest of you are excluding us from your group. We are something that is not like you and something that none of you ever want to be. We are something outside the 'in' group. We are something that is not your kind" (Downes). These words hurt me. No one in society should ever feel like they are lesser than anyone else. People with disabilities do not chose to be different. Saying that someone is a retard, is referring to all people diagnosed with disabilities to be that way too. 

Even though someone may not be diagnosed with a disability, it does not mean that they are not personally affected by the use of the r-word as well. Friendships are everything in life. To know that friends are always there whenever they are needed is what keeps people strong. Just because someone has a disability does not mean that they would not be a worthy friend. Actually, they may even be better because they understand the need for a friend in times of hardships, loneliness, and sadness. I feel that when someone develops a friendship with someone who does have a disability, they better understand the personal adversities that come with being disabled in a society that does not treat dissimilarities easily. Retarded is heard to be "extremely ignorant and offensive ... derogatory and uneducated", even if it is not meant to be perceived that way and is "hurting individuals whether you intend to or not" (Howard). When I hear the word used, I can not imagine the way it would make someone with disabilities feel. It is the simple reference that you do not treat people the way you would not wanted to be treated, and this is a clear case where I would not want to be called the r-word if it was the name of my condition. Society must just learn to change the way they speak and "to learn to respect others for their differences", and then maybe society could get along (Howard). Meredith Lange, a mother whose daughter is diagnosed with a disability, shares her impact the r-word has on herself: that "the insult is being like my (her) daughter" (Lange). Saying someone is a retard is saying that they are like someone who is diagnosed with a disability. If that is not an insult than I don't know what is. Hearing the word is "like an unexpected slap in the face because you think that my daughter is that terrible" (Lange). This mother is not diagnosed with a disability, rather she loves someone who is in that situation, and how could she not feel for what her daughter may one day have to endure. Using the r-word is not only impacting the people who are disabled, but also the people that love and care for them as they struggle with adversity. 

In 2009, the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign took off nationwide, creating awareness of the r-word throughout society. Through this campaign, schools have endorsed a pledge to stop the use of the word and create school wide understanding. It is so important that this issue becomes prevalent within schools because children learn at a young age, and it is best to nip the use of the word in environments where students are becoming aware that some of their peers may be slightly different from themselves. Not only is this campaign reaching out to schools, but people are also signing the pledge to end the use of the r-word at Special Olympic games, unified sports and towns that support the awareness and impact of this word. A high school created a video full of students with disabilities expressing how they feel about the use of the r-word and their support towards the campaign. One student convinced the camera that "I am just like you guys", while another student begged the audience to "just use a different word. Just use a nice word like I am doing, come on people" (Reece). These students support that the campaign is a step in order to eliminate the use of the r-word and the impact that comes with it. The idea is that enough people will become aware of the issue, that society will begin to understand that the word comes with negativity that is hurting many. The Spread the Word to End the Word campaign is the start to making a difference. 

In my opinion, I believe that in order to completely eradicate the r-word from societal use, the next younger generation must grow up in an environment where the word would not be accepted. These kind of environments would best be created through the implementation of inclusion classrooms, specifically within elementary schools. Being an elementary education major, I feel that teaching students concepts at a young age is the only way that morals will stay in place throughout the rest of their life. The idea is that when students personally know other students who are diagnosed with disabilities, they are less likely to use a derogatory term that they understand is hurting one of their peers. Through inclusion, the r-word will dwindle away to a point where people with and without disabilities no longer are hearing this term used throughout society. 

The first step I believe in order to develop a well working system of inclusion classrooms is to first maintain an inclusion community. Looking from a broad standpoint, those who are diagnosed with disabilities are not going to be welcomed within classrooms, if they are not first welcomed within their community. A piece of research done in the journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities found that people who are diagnosed with disabilities are more likely to develop relationships, with those who do not have disabilities, due to inclusion interaction within their own community. According to the research, people with disabilities were "more likely to report having friends and people to talk to and were more likely to receive social support" when their townships offered inclusive community (Amado, Stancliffe, and McCallion 364). When someone is able to find stability and a sense of belonging within their own township, that is when they will tend to feel development occurring between people with and without disabilities. 

Inclusion classrooms are defined as general education classrooms that teach to both students with and without disabilities. In these classrooms, students develop friendships with other students whether they have disabilities or not, due to the structure of the classroom. When a student makes a friend within their classroom environment, that student will treat their friend with respect. My thought is that when a student knows and understands their peers who are diagnosed with disabilities, they are less likely to say "retard" or "retarded" because they understand that the word is hurting a friend. In these situations, students are not growing up in situations where the r-word is used as frequently as it was when the word became a common vocabulary term for those of the older generation. The process is all about prevention and understanding what it means to say the r-word. 

Many researchers have done in-depth experiments in order to test out the theories of inclusion classrooms. A study done in the journal for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities asked a group of elementary students how they would better include their peers, who are diagnosed with disabilities, within the school environment. Overall, responses included ideas to be supportive by helping and encouraging, create inclusive social interactions, focus on similarities instead of differences, and create special programs that include everyone. These students provided answers proving that each student understands that their peers with disabilities would be better off in the classroom with them, rather than being isolated. Another study was done in the journal of Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities focusing on interviews with students who are already apart of inclusion classrooms. Both students with and without disabilities were interviewed about their experience, as well as both of their answers tended to be similar to each other. Most of the "students described feeling a sense of belonging in their schools and a highly positive school culture" due to their inclusion classroom environments (Shogren et al. 6). When comparing schools with and without inclusion classrooms, "many students, particularly those with disabilities, described their experiences at their current school as much better than at previous schools" (Shogren et al. 7). Due to students with disabilities having better experiences in a school with inclusion classrooms, I feel that the rate of bullying and the use of the r-word must be significantly lower than those rates at other non-inclusion schools. A student without disabilities explained that inclusion classrooms "helps us learn how to cooperate with students with disabilities and to help if they need help, so that we can be friends with them and they can be friends with us" (Shogren et al. 8). Reading this quote took my breathe away, that students are aware of the complications a peer with disabilities may have, however they still strive for that friendship with them. Inclusion classrooms are the key to killing the use of the r-word nationwide. 

People with and without disabilities are hurt everyday by the use of the r-word, whether it is directed towards someone with disabilities or used as a slang when something goes wrong. If society learns to recognize that people with disabilities are more alike than different, than their irresponsible comments regarding the r-word is impacting people with and without disabilities, than people would not feel ashamed to be themselves. I feel that by participating in inclusive organizations, like Spread the Word to End the Word, awareness will lessen the demeaning use of the r-word. The implementation of inclusion classrooms within elementary schools is bound to create a change for the younger generation, and their plentiful friendships with their disabled peers. If using the r-word is simply just an adjective to society, then why is it still being used? The habitual use of the r-word must stop, and it must stop now.  

