During college I had a weekend job training young adults with disabilities to work in food service.  I gained a new understanding of a part of the population not too many people get the opportunity to interact with regularly.  And since then I have always discouraged my students and later, my children, from using the word “retarded” when they mean something else.  Surrounded by teenagers as I am right now, this means that I am on my soapbox on this issue a couple of times a week, because I’m not afraid to call my kids’ friends on this.

That said, the “R” word and the others you mentioned that my home state of NJ has banned are words that at different times were the words in vogue with the medical, educational and legal communities.  They are diagnostic terms.  We need diagnostic terms!  Are we going to rewrite every law on the books when we find that one word inside those laws offends somebody?

Frankly, I think my state government could find better ways to spend its time and money right now.

“Physically handicapped” is offensive now? Wow. Are we still allowed to use the word “stupid”?

Uh-oh. What are we supposed to say instead? Seriously?

It seems ironic to me that it’s only now that people are raising legal objection to the term retarded. Now, when we show our respect towards the source of most retardation, Down’s Syndrome, by aborting 90% of the children tested as having it.

Dancingcrane, I see your point, as the mother of a daughter with Down syndrome, I see the abortion rate as the far greater insult it is. It devalues people like my beautiful daughter far more than a single word ever could. I have dedicated countless hours to fighting this travesty by telling the world what a gift Christina is.
But as Danielle said, words form attitudes, and attitudes do become actions, like abortion. The Nazis began their campaign of extermination by renamig Jews as vermin and the handicapped as useless eaters. It all began with words.
Rebekka and Barb,  I don’t mind the use of the word retarded to describe a mentally handicapped person like my daughter. She IS retarded, though only slightly, she can read and goes to school with her typical peers. We’re not being politically correct, we are trying to change attitudes regardind a population who is literally slated for destruction.

However, Aniston was using the word ‘retard’ in a pejorative way. Like our president was when he was trying to be self deprecating about his bowling, comparing it to the Special Olympics. Our children deserve more respect than to be used for poorly conceived humor.

“If an entire state finds the “r” word offensive enough to make a law banning it, individuals should avoid using it as well”  hmmm. . .be careful with this logic Danielle.  As per other articles on the register, if the state calls something “marriage”. . .should individuals as well?

Retard, has no meaning….it only has the power you give it, therefore, it’s a mute point.
Freedom of Speech,  used to stand for something….This Country is going down the tubes!!

I think people get too worked up about the culture and language evolving (as it ALWAYS has) to recognizing that a particular word is offensive.  Is it really THAT difficult to use another term that is more respectful towards your fellow man? We also don’t use terms like Negro, and Indian, and mulatto and mongoloid either.  I don’t feel too repressed over it.  As Catholics we should. understand that language changes over time, hence the use of Latin in our Faith.

“Our children deserve more respect than to be used for poorly conceived humor”, [by the President, Aniston,or anyone]. I agree with Laticia as to the humor.  I do feel that some people get too sensitive about ‘words’.  I had a “retarded” sister, my oldest. She lived a long time because she was loved and we enjoyed her company. Now they call them ‘mentally challenged’—can’t see the difference (but it does sound a little better)——whatever.  It is HOW WE TREAT them that counts—they are very special people and because they stay ‘as children’, they are closer to God. Jesus taught us everything, including how to treat his little children. I give the Kennedy family the credit for bringing this out in the open and the fact that so much more is done for them today. These ‘children’ are so loving and innocent—-they are truly beautiful.

I am really getting tired of the attack on words.  This is just another PC mode of emotional reaction.  As for Aniston, maybe she is right.  After all she should know herself better than the rest of us, so maybe she is a retard.  One would certainly get that impression from some of her political statements.  Please start putting words in the context of which they are spoken.

I would be very careful about assuming that because a state finds a word offensive and passes a law forbidding its use we therefore so it must be so.  Yes the “r” word used to describe persons is offensive, at least to some.  But guess what the words Catholic Church are offensive to some as well and what about God?  No the state needs to stop trying to legislate to cover the errors of removing ethics and morality from our society and encouraging offensive behavior by claiming it is all free speech.  Pretty soon the term: I love you, will be banned as well.

Although I agree we shouldn’t use derogatory words to describe people who are different than us, I would be very careful about dumbing down our language to avoid offence.  There is a place back home that used to be called “Crippled Children’s Hospital and School” who’s name was thought to be too insensitive.  They changed it to “Children’s Care Hospital and School” which sounds very nice but no one has a clue as to what it means or what they do there. Words have meaning.  Put together they make phrases, which also have meaning.  If we dilute our language so that words and phrases meaning are incomprehensible, we aren’t accomplishing anything other than muddying up the waters of communication for the sake of political correctness.

By using silly terms like “R-word,” “N-word,” “F-word,” and the like, you are giving every taboo term special strength. Everyone knows what they are and are sure to think of them when the clumsy circumlocution is uttered. Want proof? You just thought of each one as you read it.

Nor do you simply jettison vocabulary because someone or some group objects. Keep it civil, by all means, but don’t sit by while your precious freedom of speech is sawed off, word by word and letter by letter. If the word fits, use it, but don’t stoop to childish invective either. The standard is an objective and reasonable one.

I agree with everyone as to politically correct words.  We need the government to stay out of our personal lives, unless it is for our protection.(and they don’t do that as to the border)  Let us just follow the words of Jesus and be good and kind to one another.  It really is that simple.  This administration is getting too Socialist/Marxist as far as I am concerned. It is all right for Pelosi to call us ‘astroturfs’ and for the president to call us ‘tea BAGS’, yet they tell us it is politically incorrect to use certain words and N.J. makes a law against it. What is happening to our country—hope in the end it all turns out for the better.

The legislation to ban the word is not just being politically correct. As a college student who is in school to become an exceptional student educator, I’ve been immersed in what has been deemed a person-first movement, where you see the person and then the disability. Until 1975 people with disabilities were not viewed as having the same rights as others, they were classified by their labels and shunted into different programs where they were not to be seen or heard from. When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (then termed the Education of all Handicapped Children Act) first came into effect advocates were fighting for the recognition that people with disabilities are in fact people. This fight still goes on today with eugenicists arguing that they are unworthy of life because they are not “typical”. The change in language reflects an attempt to change how we think and view people with disabilities, not as being subhuman, but as being just as viable and worthy of life as everyone else. In order to change our thoughts we have to change our word usage because of the stigma that has been attached to what were previously diagnostic words—- and that is where the difference in being a handicapped person or being a person with a disability lies.

Words are VERY powerful.  When I was taking “women’s studies” classes in college (yes, I’m embarrassed to admit that I had allowed myself to be brainwashed into that whole “feminism” thing in my youthful naïveté), I took a whole class about the power of words and how we could change societal attitudes by changing the meaning of words.  And that’s just what I’ve seen happen since then.  Case in point:  Insisting on calling a pre-born baby a “fetus” under the guise of “medical accuracy” lends one to disregard the humanity of said fetus because people don’t have emotional attachments to the word “fetus.” I think if most leaders of the “pro-choice” movement were honest with themselves, they would realize deep-down inside that fetuses are fully human and deep-down inside but it doesn’t matter to them because they believe that human life doesn’t have *inherent* value, only value in relation its potential contribution to society.  “Pro-choice” leaders don’t openly admit that that’s what they’re really thinking, of course, because their “flock” isn’t willing to accept that.  (Most of their “flock” is happy enough to buy their leaders’ shallow arguments and vitriol because they are deathly afraid of being labeled a bigot or some such thing.)  So the “intellectual movers and shakers”, starting with professors and moving quickly to the mainstream media and politicians, change the language, redefining “unborn baby” as “fetus,” “abortion” as “reproductive rights,” and “pro-abortion” as “pro-choice,” all in order to make it sound as though those who want to protect the lives of *all* human beings are really dictatorial misogynists just trying to quash the “rights” and freedoms of women to make decisions about their own health and their own bodies.  The elite then teach to the teachers, who in turn brainwash the next generation, and pretty soon you have a whole society who accepts lies as the truth.

Take-home message: never underestimate the power of words.

As a side note, New Jersey didn’t *outlaw* the use of the word “retarded.”  No one is going to get arrested for using that word.  New Jersey’s government only made a more-or-less administrative decision not to use that word in their own official communications (laws and such).  That’s quite a different thing.

Jessica and Amy I thoroughly enjoyed your posts and it gave me new insight into “words”. Things were so different yrs. ago.  As to fetuses and unborn babies, you are right. Some women today, who feel they have the right to control their own bodies are forgetting there is a ‘father’ involved as well as the ‘baby’ and they both have rights also. She would not be pregnant without him (or a male donor). I have given it thought and decided that I like the term “mentally challenged” or “physically challenged” because these children/adults are definitely challenged every day of their lives. Thanks again for your input.

We should let everyone know that “fetus” is Latin for “young one”.  Most people are not aware of that.  When I was pregnant with my son at 36 years old, the medical community wanted to give me “genetic counseling,” which of course means “abortion counseling,” because of my age.  I said absolutely not, and if my son has a disability of any kind, that I would take care of him for the rest of my life.  Thank God I was more mature than I was in my 20’s!  If abortion, according to pro-abortionists, is not wrong or bad, why don’t they ever say the word “abortion” when that is what they mean.  So true, WORDS HAVE POWER…The power to also cover up the TRUTH!

The discussion has been interesting! The power of words, freedom of speech, the coarsening of our society, all are worthy topics. We are trying to preserve our free speech, while excising humiliating pejoratives. Quite laudable. What saddens me, is what is now going on under our radar. While we are deciding whether ‘retard’ is an acceptable word, those so afflicted have become societally-acceptable targets for destruction. Until that actual and lethal barbarism is reversed, we have to remind ourselves that it is not just our words that we should address.
I have a Down’s syndrome sister, and i have cerebral palsy myself, and lots of experience with disabilities of all types. I in no way minimize the difficulties disabilities give. but I grieve our society’s penchant for politeness, when it obscures the barbarism of being rid of our burdens by killing them.

I have two cousins who are “retarded”, one very severely from cerebral palsy, the other died many decades ago from Renee Syndrome.  One of my best friends in grammar school was “retarded” (let’s call her “slow thinking”). I take great offense at her remarks.

That being said, ever since I was a little kid “retarded” has been used for anyone who is stupid (or acts or talks like it) regardless whether the person is really mentally handicapped or not.

A think this “celebrity” (what IS she supposed to be famous for?) needs a little reality check.

We might as well also ban the use of “dumb” (offensive to the speech-impaired), “idiot” and “moron” (offensive to the mentally handicapped, as they were both clinical terms at one time), “lame” (offensive to the physically handicapped), “stupid” (offensive to those lacking intellectual acuity for whatever reason), and “logically incoherent” (as that term is offensive to those who measure everything by their emotional repsonse to it).

Let’s give ourselves a pat on the back: just by banning certain words from our lexicon, we’ve made everyone in the world smart!

This is coming from the race of beings that is most likely to have children under war and famine conditions and least likely to make babies when living in relative comfort.

Why can’t we realize that we are just one messy organism, incapable of making choices that won’t eventually appear ludicrous.

Are you insane?  Oops… that is probably offensive.  New Jersey passing a law to ban a word… that is really stupid.  Oh, there I go offending someone again.  Have you ever heard of the first amendment:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Oh, and by the way, if we are going to determine what is right and wrong based on what a majority of people think, then I’m afraid Islam trumps Christianity.  So, to say that it must be wrong if a whole state says it’s wrong is really retarded.  Oh, darn it… I offended again!

Some of it can get pretty funny too.  My son sleeps a great deal when he first arrives for his two to three week stint in the hospital.  One of the newer nurses’ commented on it, and the older one with her said, “Oh, that’s because he has CF.”  The young one commented that he looked awfully young to have chronic fatigue.  The older one started laughing and said, “No, no, that means Cystic Fibrosis.”

Guess it’s all in how a person sees it.

This whole family congratulates Gov. Christie on his swift and intelligent move to ask the legislature here to put an end to the abuse of the words “retarded” and “retardation” and “retard” in official New Jersey documents. Now if there were just some way for him, with help from our media, to persuade and encourage the rest of us us to ban those words in pejorative ways during public discourse, America might get closer to where I will bet most of us would like to see her get.