You stand up and all your papers fall out of your unzipped bag. As you begin picking everything up you mutter, “I’m so…” How did you fill in those blanks? Clumsy? Messy? If you chose any word other than the “r-word”---retarded---you may have been influenced by the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign.
For almost two decades, professional organizations, such as The American Speech and Hearing Association have used the terms Intellectually or Developmentally Disabled instead of mentally retarded. During the Obama administration, Rosa’s law, named for a girl with Down syndrome, was passed. The law stripped the terms “mental retardation” and “mentally retarded” from federal health, education, and labor policy. “Intellectual disability” and “individual with an intellectual disability” was inserted in their place.
However, the stigma associated with the “r-word” remained. Two youth leaders began the campaign to spread the word to end the word, collecting pledges from students to make a personal commitment to acknowledge the hurt caused by the R-word and to be respectful in the words and actions taken towards people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In 2019, the campaign shortened its name and became Spread the Word, with a focus not just on the elimination of a word but also on the creation of a new reality: inclusion for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Resources:
https://www.asha.org/Practice-Portal/Clinical-Topics/Intellectual-Disability/
https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2010/10/05/obama-signs-rosas-law/10547
https://specialolympicsri.org/unified-champion-schools/spread-the-word-to-end-the-word/
https://www.spreadtheword.global/
