Now, I don't typically put strong feelings on social media, but this was an exception. I understand that my generation, and the ones surrounding ours, use this word when a friend is acting foolish or stupid, and that isn't okay. In a perfect world, I would make it my life goal to personally abolish this word, and although the world isn't perfect, I can do my part in my everyday life. This word that was once an excepted medical term has now become pejorative. Fun fact- in 2013, the "R" word was deemed incorrect and outdated and was replaced with the word "intellectually disabled" or that someone has an "intellectual disability" in all legislature and medical journals. Therefore, in my mind, there is absolutely no reason to use this word anymore.
As I've met people at college, I've had to go through my talk many times. In Portage, those who knew me knew that it wasn't okay to say it around me, and I would prefer if they just deleted it from their vocabulary. Many of my friends and peers stopped using this word in our early middle school years, and the conversations I had with those around me greatly decreased by the time I got to high school. Being in a new place with so many people who don't know me means you have your whole story to tell, or I guess, as much of it as you want people to know. I just didn't realize how often I would have to repeat this part of my story.
As I'm writing this, I'm thinking about how I am going to talk to my education class about this topic on Wednesday like my professor asked me to. The main thing that perplexes me is, why am I nervous? If I'm just explaining the facts, what can go wrong? The truth is, I've learned that many people don't like to be corrected or even shown another way to go about things than their own without getting defensive. However, no defense is needed here. If you use this word knowingly, okay. If you know the meaning behind it and how it has metastasized to a negative connotation and still want to use it, I can't stop you, nor can anyone else. But truthfully, when the majority of people realized that this word that has become part of a social normality is no longer okay, they stop.
I know I can't change the world in a big way. At least not where I am in life right now. I can, however, change little pieces everyday. Little pieces that not only help shape our society into something better, but the pieces that focus on social justice. And maybe, in doing so, I can not only help delete this word from our vocabulary, but also help overcome the stigma of disabilities in general.
In the end, we are all unique, but then again, we are all the same.
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