Retard Meaning

Right or Wrong “Less advanced.” “Below average intelligence.” “Foolish or stupid.” These are few of the many meanings of the same word: retarded. In the 1900’s this term was coined to describe an individual with one or multiple disabilities and for the next couple of decades would be the label for these groups of individuals. Over time the word grew into more than the medical term one would use, rather their label would be changed to the one commonly used today, “Special needs” or “Disabled.” However, when their label was changed the meaning behind the word retarded changed too, it no longer referred to its correct use but to one that had a deeper meaning. Stupid, dumb, foolish, slow, Retard! This word is now thrown around by younger generations …show more content…
Throughout time special needs individuals were not the most respected or accepted among society. This term was the best medical officials could put together, but besides their label, their assistance was not much better. Many individuals were sent to institutions or hidden inside their families’ homes away from the public, no one helped, no one cared. My mother graduated in the year 1990, and in 1990 they were still considered “retarded.” She recalls the little assistance the school provided for these special individuals: no separate classrooms, no assistants, no equipment tailored to their needs. “They were just considered retarded, that’s all they really were, just that,” my mother has told me. That was over 28 years ago and the word is still being used. “Retarded” and “retard” today are variations on a slur. Young people especially like it: as a weapon of derision, it does the job. It’s sharp, with an assaultive potency that words like “moron” and “idiot” lost sometime in the days of black-and-white TV (Downes). I hear it all the time at school and in public, my classmates saying it to one another, why does such a word have to be used? Why must we downgrade someone to the point we are labeling them disabled, mentally and emotionally unstable, and unable to learn? Those are all terms under the word …show more content…
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” (Shriver). An author living with Down Syndrome replied with those words when asked what is wrong with the word retard. From someone who works with special needs students, hearing those words make my heart sink, knowing that this world cannot respect someone enough to acknowledge their differences and not push them away for it. Knowing this world cannot respect each other enough to not use the word “retard” or “retarded” pushes me to love and respect these individuals even