{31 for 21} Every Year.

I am so over writing this post.

If you're reading this blog, I assume you don't use the word "r-tarded" to refer to kids with Down syndrome or intellectual disabilities.  I can be reasonably sure you don't use it to refer to typically developing friends who do something dumb.  I can hope that you don't use it to refer to messed up situations.

But don't let it slide.

Remember in the early 90s when everything was "gay?"  And it took a lot of people, not just LGBTQ+ people, speaking up and saying "hey, this isn't nice" to get "gay" out of our vocabulary as an insult.  I think people had to realize they were using a description of a real person to insult people/things.  They had to know that it was painful.

Well, now there's a lot of people with intellectual disabilities and their families trying to get "r-tarded" out of our common vocabulary as an insult.  I'm one of them.  And while I feel like less people are saying it, I've been reading a lot about.... "f-uckt-rds," "Republ-tards," "l-btards" and more.

Stop.

Just stop.

And stop others.

If you don't get it, do it for me.

If you don't care about me, do it for Ellie.

Using an outdated medical term for my daughter to describe something you think is broken or foolish at best and disgusting or morally offensive at worst.... that's not fair to her.

Say what you mean.

Do you think something is a terrible idea?  "That idea is terrible."

Is your chair broken?  "I hate this broken chair!"

But real change?  It takes getting to know people.  So while you're at it, get to know someone with a disability.  Give a face to that slur.  Yes, slur.

I hate ranting.  But I'll do it for Ellie.