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Will YOU stop using the term 'ret*d'?
Yes! 46%  46%  [ 36 ]
No! 43%  43%  [ 34 ]
huh? 11%  11%  [ 9 ]
Total votes : 79

ProfessorX
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11 Apr 2009, 10:46 am

sinsboldly, I choose not to call others by such a word for, I've often been refered to as such therefore, I'd rather relate unto others as human beings not lab mice in an experment of human cruelty.. just my own interpretation that's all for, I'd not wish to cause any hostility amongst others here..


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Asmodeus
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16 Apr 2009, 11:07 pm

This same thread has been posted several times and each time I've said the same thing

Quote:
That's ret*d.

You can't control language out of the tv, and the meaning of the word in the dictionary isn't inacurrate applied medically, it's just not pc.



DentArthurDent
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18 Apr 2009, 7:50 pm

I don't know how the term is used in the US but in Australia it is most definitely an insult. You will NEVER here the term used in a technical way in the media.

As lau pointed out it is an umbrella term used to describe Idiot, Moron and Imbecile. The term used here is Intellectual Disability or ID, which describes a person with an IQ of less than 70.

Because of the many countries where 'ret*d' is only used as an insult means that an international organisation should not use it


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20 Jan 2010, 3:25 am

Quote:
Mage wrote: But how will I know when to slow the tempo while playing a piano piece???

Ritardano (sorry for my bad spelling) is alright because it is a musical term. It's the use of the word 'ret*d' as an insult I don't like.



CockneyRebel
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20 Jan 2010, 4:45 am

I've hated that word, my entire life. It's not just a word to me. It's an insult. I've been called that, too many times, when I was growing up. The kids in my elementary and high school were a bunch of idiots, to call me that. Why did they do that? Because I was in Special Ed, I looked like a boy and I spoke/speak with a Cockney accent. I also don't wish to lose my accent, or become feminine, according to society's standards of what a Canadian woman should be.


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DeVoTeE
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20 Jan 2010, 9:17 am

I hated that word and irks me to bring it up. I wish that word would go away. I would like to see it go away, but I have a feeling it won't.



Lene
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20 Jan 2010, 9:34 am

I used to use that word when slagging off friends or describing rude people who act foolishly. I wouldn't ahve used it in front of someone who actually had mental difficulties and thought that made it OK. I think that because there are new terms for mentally disabled people, it's as if the old ones are up for grabs.

I read an article by a woman whose brother had Down's though and she explained how she would feel really offended on his behalf by that word, and I realised that you never know who is going to be affected; even if you are careful to avoid mentioning it in front of someone in Down's, their mum coud be right beside you. I also realised that I would be equally offended if someone made 'women are stupid' jokes so I'm trying to watch my words more.

Just wondering, what about the word 'dumb'? It's very ingrained in culture too, but do people who can't talk find it offensive?



PunkyKat
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20 Jan 2010, 10:33 pm

No matter how hard you try to outlaw a certian word, people will still use it. The fact it is a "forbidden" word is what makes it so appealing. Before ret*d, people with developmental disabilities were called moron, idot, dunce and the like. We may no longer use those to refur to a person with Down Syndrome or severe autism, but we still use them as insults. I personaly have never been called "ret*d" but if I was I would very offended.


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gina-ghettoprincess
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21 Jan 2010, 11:33 am

"ret*d" is one of the words that I have used out of habit, but am trying to stop using because you never know who is going to be offended. Also in this category are "gay" (as in "I hate this lesson, it's so gay". It doesn't actually refer to homosexuality, but the colloquial use can confuse people who don't realise this. I haven't used this in ages) and "spaz" (short for "spastic" but adopted by mainstream culture as an insult much like "ret*d". I never used this one much to start with, though, but my friends used to say it a lot).

One way I'm helping myself to stop saying the R-word is that every time I feel that I would say it, I say "tard" instead, because then the person can choose if they want to prefix the abbreviation with "bas" or "re" (isn't it funny how "bastard" is considered more of a swearword than "ret*d", but someone is a lot more likely to be offended by the latter? Being born out of wedlock really isn't that big a deal nowadays, while disability is still a sensitive issue, so surely it should be the other way around?).

The problem with this campaign, well-meaning though it is, is that (as some people have previously mentioned) any word used to replace "ret*d" will become an insult as well. Whoever dreamt up "special needs" missed the mark, as "spesh" is now used to insult someone who is disabled (unlike "ret*d", I've mostly heard this used in a deliberately offensive way, not the casual way that ret*d is often used). I'm always getting called a spesh at school (the phrase "she gets away with everything cos she's a spesh and has no friends" is going to haunt me for the rest of my schooldays. Neither of the three parts of that statement are even true).

Lene wrote:
Just wondering, what about the word 'dumb'? It's very ingrained in culture too, but do people who can't talk find it offensive?


I've wondered about that myself. I would refer to someone who can't talk as "mute", though, not "dumb" (because dumb sounds too much like an insult even when it's meant medically or whatever).


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Lene
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21 Jan 2010, 7:32 pm

Oh yeah, forgot the word mute existed!



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23 Jan 2010, 3:34 am

Something happened a while ago that I couldn't help but notice. The DMR changed their name to "the department of developmental services." It may sound better at first until you see the acronym: DDDS. Add an apostrophe and you have Carlos Mencia's DDD'S. It is far more insulting, in my opinion than the department of mental retardation. The DDDS includes autism cases as well so the insult is extended to more than just one spectrum. And this is our own government(usa) attacking us personally as if no one would get it.


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BokeKaeru
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25 Jan 2010, 2:16 am

I used to use the word ret*d a lot, but because I came to the conclusion that is roughly the equivalent of another insulting disability word for people with cleft lips which really offends me, I've been making an effort to stop using it. I sometimes do the same thing as an above poster and slip into using "tard," but I've been trying to stop doing that as well.



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27 Aug 2010, 7:45 am

For those who will to continue to use R-word, you will only degraded and discriminated against people with intellectual disabilities like me and yourself. You are degarding those people who have achieved great things in life and proving the preconceptions of people with intellectual disabilities are wrong. That is the mission of Special Olympics. I say this because I am a Special Olympics Athlete and I have achieved great things in my life that many people have told me and my family I would not be able to. I am a proud supporter of the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign. Also United States is in the process of passing Rosa's Law which removes the R-word from federal labor, education and health laws. It has passed the Senate already. So Be A Fan of acceptance, dignity, the human race and people of all abilities.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRUOL5Rm2XY[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfMlrTV_5vY[/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p ... 289ADDC3F6


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29 Aug 2010, 8:00 pm

I don't like that term. I avoid it. I usually prefer to use the term "difference" in describing...well...differences.


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redwulf25_ci
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12 Sep 2010, 11:11 pm

No I won't stop. I would have to have started to do so before I could stop.



Asp-Z
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13 Sep 2010, 12:34 pm

Good. I for one don't use it anyway.

To be completely honest, though, while I do think it's good there are organisations that take this seriously, I don't think it'll have any real effect.