How do you feel about the word ret*d?

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It is a word that means slow.

Language always provides non-literal, abstract ways to precisely express one's ideas. If we politicize a word, its meaning morphs. "ret*d" changed from a general adjective to talk about something that was moving, but at a slower speed, to label and segregate human cognition, to a weapon. When we PC a word, it increases its power as a weapon.

The most successful campaigns I am aware of to disarm weaponized vocabulary is the group affected embraces the word: queer (odd), first a general word, then a pejorative, then replaced with gay, now the umbrella term for talking about sexual diversity in a civil manner. "Black" was embraced because segment of humans, although we are all shades of brown, denigrated on the abstract feature.

It was used, like gay, to replace a word that is still such a powerful weapon of hate, that if I wrote it, I would be sanctioned I pray for the day when this "old" "white" "lady" (all politicized words) can talk about my friends and family with "n-word" and no one thinks its bad because no one thinks badly of people stereotyped by it, and the pain caused by this weapon has healed.

But as long as the world is inhabited by humans, we will have haters. As long as we have haters, words will be weaponized. All we can do is embrace them proudly.

ret*d means slow. ret*d has pretty much always been a pejorative. If people want to reappropriate that word into something positive I would be for that effort.

I hated it because it is a bad song - now its in my head, damn it!!

I never did like that song.

But that's silly. Why should we change the meaning of existing words. That's like going through the dictionary and scoring out words we don't like.

Every generation changes the vocabulary. And the older generation has been complaining about it for thousands years or so. Language is very fluid.

I am glad autistic is used to describe a wider variety of people these days. i am glad everybody is not using it as a complete negative anymore.

I am still careful about where I talk about it, although where I work now there seems to be more than the usual who I suspect might be. It makes the job more fun and less stressful.

I'm afraid this might be becoming the case within the autistic community but among NTs calling somebody autistic is perceived as equivalent to calling them the r word

The two are often used synonymously on social media and I have "unfriended" people because they posted both words as slurs in a unrefined attempt at humor

It is used to describe a wider variety of people but we got a very long way to go. The three basic streotypes are ret*d, Rain Man, and Sheldon. But that does not change how far it has come during my lifetime.

Most young people have never heard of "Rainman" and "Sheldon" isn't going to elicit a reaction since people who watch Big Bang theory actually think the character is funny while for those who don't watch the program it doesn't register...

that just leaves the r-word which has now become intergenerational and easily recognisable as a universal slur

It does not matter who has seen Rain Man or watches The Big Bang Theory, those Autism stereotypes have permeated the culture. If you say you are on the spectrum people judge you as in need of 24/7 maintenence or a socially ackward genius who should just try harder to be normal. There is little if any reconition that most autistics fall somewhere inbetween. "Moderate" or "Level 2" autism does that even get diagnosed?

As far as Sheldon it is my impression most are laughing at him, not with him, similar to a clown.

I freaking hate it. It was used on me long before my diagnosis because my maiden name rhymed with it; even some of my adult cousins used it on me. I also have several special needs relatives and a cousin working on her degree to work with special needs high school students, which has only made me that much more vehement about the disuse of the word.

I think you are choosing to see autism mostly through your own eyes.

Movies are just one source, people pick up stereotypes of autism from TV (news or documentaries), books and magazines rather than just movies. Draasima's research published in the Royal Society of Philosophical Transactions https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2677582/
has found there has been a proliferation of stereotypes of autism that vary across a wide range of misconceptions perpetuated by the mass media.

There are a large variety of stereotypes. As I wrote those are from what I see at least here the three I listed are most "popular" or form a basis for or are a part of the others.

Back to the topic of the thread the pejoritive "ret*d" is much more "popular" then any one autism stereotype because people apply it to a lot more then autism. Autistic is replacing "ret*d" in part because it is becoming politically incorrect to use "ret*d" in a number of circles.

No matter which stereotype is most popular at the moment, the problem is what Autism is to a most autistics is mostly unknown.

Yes this fair enough... the r-word is more loaded (as you say) but by the same token I'm not aware of anyone who would consider being called autistic as anything but an insult. It's just a matter of degrees...