The R-Word And Why You Should Stop Using it.

By Nitya Pakala

Editorial Note: 

Dear Reader,

In July of 2020, Réapparition Journal published a post on Instagram regarding this topic that was researched by Nitya Pakala. The post received a fairly large amount of attention, with more than 17,000 likes and nearly as many comments; therefore, we deemed it necessary to publish the information on our online platform as well. Far too many people find this information either novel or juvenile-- many comments on the post were simply trolls who insisted on repeating the word that the post discouraged the use of. This is exactly the sort of behavior that Réapparition Journal works to discourage; hence, we have reiterated the information below. Thank you for your support, as always.

Sincerely,

Réapparition Journal Editorial

/ˈrēˌtärd/

(n.) “a person who has a mental disability (often used as a general term of abuse)”. 

(v.) “delay or hold back in terms of progress, development, or accomplishment”.

At one point, the term "mental retardation" was a medical diagnosis & term used to describe people with an intellectual impairment. Now, the word "retard" is a common word used by society to insult someone or something stupid. 

Why is this bad?

As more people use the word "retard" as a synonym for stupid or dumb, it furthers the negative stereotypes about people with disabilities. When used in this way it is equivalent to saying all people with disabilities are stupid. 

As the term "mental retardation" became more popular, it changed from being a medical diagnosis for people in the neurologically divergent community to an insult. 

The term was often associated with different, helpless, childlike, intellectually deficient, and intractable people. Being called "retarded" meant that being perceived as having any of those qualities was a bad thing.

How you can help:

Spread the Word to End the Word is a global campaign started in 2009 to end the use of the word "retard". Join the movement and cause and visit the website to take a pledge and stop the use of the r-word. 

You can also educate yourselves by watching "Atypical": a Netflix series about an autistic teenager, named Sam, transitioning from high school to college and his experience as an autistic young adult in his society. 

You can also visit websites like this and this to learn more about the negative impact of the word "retard" on people.