Most commonly when retard(ed) is being used in its pejorative form, it is not being directed at people with mental disabilities. Instead, people use retard(ed) when they want to call someone stupid, an idiot, or silly. However, even in its new purpose as a colloquialism word is still perceived as insulting. Examples can be seen in pop culture, including the TED and Billy Madison.
How is retard(ed) being used today?
Retard has transitioned from an impartial medical term to one that is negatively loaded. For this reason, it is now widely considered degrading even when used in its original context.
“So, what’s wrong with ‘retard’?,” he asked. “I can only tell you what it means to me and people like me when we hear it. It means that the rest of you are excluding us from your group. We are something that is not like you and something that none of you would ever want to be. We are something outside the ‘in’ group. We are someone that is not your kind.”
-John Franklin Stephens, Global Messenger for the Special Olympics.
“The hardest thing about having an intellectual disability is the loneliness,” he once wrote in The Denver Post. “We are aware when all the rest of you stop and just look at us. We are aware when you look at
us and just say, ‘unh huh,’ and then move on, talking to each other. You mean no harm, but you have no idea how alone we feel even when we are with you.”
Words have power. Negative language leads to harmful action, discrimination, abuse, negative stereotypes, disenfranchisement, and violence; this is true along racial, gender, sexual orientation, and disability lines, and more. "Retard" and "retarded" are derogatory and dehumanizing terms -- on par with the N-word used to describe African Americans, and various hateful terms used to describe members of the Jewish, gay and lesbian, and other minority communities. In addition, words and labels can cause others to think that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are not able to achieve the things that others can achieve.
The R-word is INCORRECT
“When you say the "R" word it makes people feel bad and it hurts my feelings and I don't want to hear you guys say it. Instead, you can call me a leader, a hero, or a human being, but please don't call me the "R" word.”
– Dony Knight, Special Olympics Oregon athlete
