Students from the School of Education’s Exceptional Educators club will be speaking out against the use of the word “retarded,” in everyday speech in the club’s “Campaign to End the ‘R-Word Week.”
Joining forces with Boston University’s Community Service Center to sell T-shirts, hold an open mic night and provide a dinner banquet to raise awareness about the r-word, the club, which is dedicated to helping special-education students, will raise money for Autism Speaks, an organization supporting autism research.
SED sophomore and Exceptional Educator member Jeanne Manning said her work with special-education students has made her understand the importance of recognizing disabled persons individually.
“A lot of times, these people are judged and lumped together as a whole and that is simply not the case,” Manning said. “The individuals with special needs whom I have gotten to know are utterly unique and incredible in entirely different ways.”
The campaign allows those who care about special needs students to speak on their behalf, she said.
“Unfortunately, it is often that those with special needs cannot defend or advocate for themselves,” Manning said. “It is our responsibility to do this.”
SED sophomore and Exceptional Educator member Kimberly Hartel said, with the campaign, the group hopes to make students realize that the r-word can be hurtful.
“This campaign isn’t about pointing fingers and saying, ‘you’re wrong,’” Hartel said. “It’s about raising awareness. We’re hoping people will think twice about using the r-word to joke around and rag on their friends.”
Hartel said that using the r-word when referring to those with intellectual disabilities is actually politically correct.
“We just want people to be aware of the negative connotation the word has taken on and ask them to think twice before throwing it around,” Hartel said.
CAS senior Katrina Tomecek said that while she had never heard of the campaign, she never uses the r-word.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate,” Tomecek said. “I think when people use it, it makes them look immature. You never know when someone has a family member who is retarded or might be offended.”
SED sophomore and Exceptional Educator secretary Emily Nowak said that most students who use the r-word are unaware of its effect on other people, but her work with disabled students made her realize the word’s hurtful side effects.
“I would say that when individuals use the word ‘retarded,’ they may not even be thinking of those with disabilities and how it could offend them,” Nowak said.
“The biggest challenge is trying to get others to change their habits and mindset towards the word itself, and really understand how one word can hurt others.”
CAS freshman Gaby Cardoso said that even when she knows other people mean no offense, it still hurts her because she has a disabled younger sister.
“It’s not like I’m going to get mad,” Cardoso said. “But it still hits me.”
“The Campaign to End the ‘R-Word’” culminates in a dinner banquet on Tuesday.
Manning is helping coordinate the banquet, which she said will feature speakers from Autism Speaks and the Special Olympics.
“We are excited to have speakers who are personally invested in promoting respect for those with special needs, and who can bring a personal element to this effort,” Manning said.
The banquet will be an opportunity for members of the Exceptional Educators and others to express what the campaign means to them personally, Manning said.
“Overall, we are encouraging a night of conversation, asking people to take the time to evaluate the level of respect they have or show individuals who have special needs.”
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
