Full article at:
Spread The Word To End ‘R-Word’ Day Gains Supporters, Momentum
(KIMT)
March 7, 2012
MASON CITY, IOWA– [Excerpt] There’s a new campaign that is picking up speed. It’s called “Spread the Word to End the Word”.
It’s an on-going effort that is educating people on how hurtful the words “retard” or “retarded” can be, and that message is being heard all around the nation. We caught up with some folks locally who are happy to see the “R” word go away.
“It makes you sick.”
“It’s not really that nice to call people that.”
“It’s hurtful when people hear that.”
The reactions to the word “retarded” are pretty strong with this group.
Lisa Yunek, whose daughter Alecia has Down syndrome said, “no one ever means anything good when they say you are a retard.”
That’s because they have all had some sort of personal experience with it
Entire article:
Eliminating The “R” Word
http://tinyurl.com/ide0307121b
Related:
Special Olympics works to end ‘r-word’ (Notre Dame Observer)
http://tinyurl.com/ide0307121a
Quinnipiac aims to spread respect (Quinnipiac Chronicle)
http://tinyurl.com/ide0307121c
Colorado State fraternity spreads the word to end the word (Collegian)
http://tinyurl.com/ide0307121d
Editorial: Evaluate Your Language, No R-Word (The Ram Online)
http://tinyurl.com/ide0307121e
Spread the Word to End the Word strives to end derogatory usage of ‘retard(ed)’ (Daily Illini)
http://tinyurl.com/ide0307121f
Spread the Word to End the Word
http://www.r-word.org
Planet of the Blind 
OK, I signed the pledge. But somehow I was more comfortable with Nancy Mairs proud embrace of the word “cripple” as a self-descriptor* or the use of a capitalized “Deaf” to denote the culture of people without hearing. Semantics do matter, and it’s empowering when people can have control over the labels that other people apply to them. However, look closely at “retarded” (or “mentally retarded”) and “intellectual disability”. The former phrase currently carries the negative weight of an eternity of playground taunts, but “intellectual disability” is not any less a label implying sub-average function when compared to average abilities, and I suspect it will be just as reviled by the people who wear the label once the phrase hits the asphalt of your local elementary school.
* http://www.planet-of-the-blind.com/2011/10/essay-on-the-politics-of-english-clarity-and-them-folk-with-disabilities-.html
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