Post by obf on Jan 2, 2020 10:05:03 GMT -8
Even further back, they were NARC, National Association for Retarded Children. They dropped the N in 1981... somethingsomething The War on Drugs.
Their statement on the matter is:
"Words matter. Over time, as the words ‘retardation’ and ‘retarded’ became pejorative, derogatory, and demeaning in usage, the organization evolved its terminology to reflect the desires of people with disabilities, and changed its name to ‘The Arc’. While the term still appears occasionally, it has largely been replaced and usage of ‘intellectual disability’ and ‘developmental disability’ continues to spread.
We are doing everything in our power to make sure they’re adopted more broadly and strongly believe the only ‘r-word’ that should be used when referring to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is respect."
While I have a filthy mouth and frequently use naught words, I try to follow a rule, that rule is to not offend other people when I am engaging in offending a specific person. calling a person the "R-word" generally does that. What can I say, I am a man of principles.
I rightfully should of been called out.
There is a discussion within the crip community regarding the term to use. Most of them were not developed by the crip community: they were developed by social workers, academicians, and special education teachers to enable them to speak about us in a manner that comforted them. The terms are: physically challenged, differently able, the H-word, the R-word, and special needs.
So the terms used most widely is individuals or persons with disabilities [because it focuses on the individual by using it as a characteristic much like, brown eyes, blond hair, etc.] and disabled [it has many fewer negative connotations] though, crip and crips is becoming much more acceptable [because it makes people uncomfortable and create a teaching moment.
I applaud you for your introspection.
H-Word???
I love that your community is re-claiming a previously offensive word, but seeing as it is an "insider" word, is it similar to the n-word? Meaning, you and your community can use it, but those who aren't an individual with disabilities can't? I certainly don't think I would feel comfortable using it, just wondering about it's usage in general.
