Spread the word. Pretty please?



 

 

 

A thesaurus, but .... really.

 

It's sad that this even has to be said, but I hear it EVERY day. Seriously. Out of habit, someone will say it right to me. MOST of the time, I know they don't mean to be malicious. They don't mean to be insensitive or cruel. And MOST of the time, I can gently remind them that it's a hurtful word. MOST of the time, they will realize what they've just said and even feel embarrassed for it. MOST of our family and friends have already made an active effort to stop saying it (and I love you for it!).

I posted "A Word Gone Wrong" earlier in the week.
They're right. The word "retarded" didn't start out as a BAD word and it's still considered clinically appropriately. But now, it stings when you hear it. When someone says it about YOUR child. Even inside the walls of a doctor's office, because outside of those walls... you know people aren't using the word to mean "intellectually disabled" or "cognitively delayed". They mean stupid. Are you saying my child is stupid? Would you really say, "That's so Anna Gray." Is that what you mean?

^ This child?^ The one who understands three languages? The one who uses what she has to do things they said she couldn't do? The one who tricks people into giving her what she wants? She's stupid?

No. She's not. Quite the opposite, actually.

I remember when I was 19 or 20, walking across the parking lot to a Titans game. My dad used the word. It was actually the first time I'd ever heard him say it (and the last). It had just started to really catch on as a slur, he had college-age kids, and he said it. I cried. Like, really cried. Not because I knew I was going to have a daughter with Down Syndrome some day (I didn't!), but because I knew it was hurtful to someone out there. (Although that was NOT his intention- at all.)

It's not just about Anna Gray. It's about not being cruel to anyone. Awareness... to acceptance.

So, please. Stop saying it. Tell other people to stop saying it. Tell them why. Tell them about Anna Gray and how amazing she is. Tell them how much it hurts our family and others like our's to hear/see that word. Tell them them to spread the word to end the word.