News

Middle School 1st Place

May 21, 2010

Emily Holland from College View Middle submitted the following winning essay to the Wendell Foster's Campus No R-Word Essay Contest:

Abolishing the “R-Word” By Emily Holland Just like “cool”, “dumb”, “awesome”, or any other “slang” word, people use the “r-word” (aka – retard) in everyday conversations and never think twice about it. What people don’t realize is that using the “r-word” is offensive to people who have developmental disabilities, particularly those who are intellectually disabled. People have dismissed and mistreated those with disabilities for centuries. Using the “r-word” is cruel and demeaning. It should stop. One of the reasons people dismiss people with disabilities is that they don’t understand them. Most people don’t know what it means to have a “disability”. A disability is simply a condition that makes someone require assistance in parts of daily life or in gaining independence. An intellectual disability means a person with lower than average abilities to learn, mature, or gain independence. There are about 2.5 million people in the world with an intellectual disability. However, people with intellectual disabilities can still learn, have fun, and live a normal life. Cerebral palsy and autism are two other kinds of developmental disabilities. Some symptoms of cerebral palsy are problems with muscle control, speech, or hearing. Autism can cause someone to be resistant to change, be unaware of others’ feelings, or have impaired communications skills. Remember, people with autism or cerebral palsy do not always have in intellectual disability. Why would you make jokes about someone who speaks differently or doesn’t act the same as you? The truth is that there is no real reason. People do this because they don’t like things to be different. Because the world refuses to accept people with disabilities, these people have been excluded from society throughout history. In the past, people with disabilities, especially those with intellectual disabilities, have been abused, institutionalized, mistreated, and have even been used as “guinea pigs” to test out new products. They have been subjected to jokes and scorn. You may think you take no part in this, but it is unlikely that you are completely innocent. When you use the “r-word”, you help drive home the idea that people with disabilities are unwanted and undeserving of a normal, happy life. We need to learn the art of acceptance. Yes, people with disabilities are different, but aren’t we all unique in our own way? The first step towards acceptance is to abolish the use of the “r-word”. If everyone would stop using it, we would start on a path away from prejudice and mistreatment. People with disabilities are just that, people, and should be treated as such.