What really is the “R” Word? 

Photo by Sawyer Cranston, Staff Writer

The word retard is very controversial for many people, but why is that? Many people don’t know the meaning or where it came from. According to the Cambridge Dictionary retard is French for delay, lateness or slowness, falling behind. It has been used as a medical term for mental retardation. Merriam-Webster describes it as “mild to severe impairment in intellectual ability equivalent to an IQ of 70 to 75 or below that is accompanied by significant limitations in social, practical, and conceptual skills (as in interpersonal communication, reasoning, or self-care) necessary for independent daily functioning and that has an onset before age 18” (“Mental Retardation,” Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary)  

Why am I telling you this? Well, I have a 24-year-old brother named Danny who has Down’s Syndrome. Most people already assume that I hate the “r” word right off the bat. However, that isn’t necessarily true. While I am not the biggest fan of the word, I believe it has lost its true meaning. People over the decades have used it to be an insult, whether it was a joke or serious, like with a many other words whose denotation is different from the current connotation. Because of this trend, there are organizations that have been formed to raise money to banish the “r” word, which sounds great in theory. However, what is the realistic outcome for it? Is the word no longer in the dictionary? Will it be illegal to say it? Obviously, that is an exaggeration, but the “r” word will truly never go away; it might become obsolete, but will never be gone. I am not saying that people should say the “r” word or that I don’t care if people say it. The money currently being raised could be used for better purposes.  

My brother luckily has had great opportunities such as being able to join Mount Greenwood Park Special Recreation and go to great schools from preschool all the way to college, but not all kids can be as lucky as he has been. There are very few places that have activities for them to participate or schools with good programs or even homes for them to go when family can no longer take care of them. For the longest time, if special needs students were in school, the day before their 22^nd birthday was their last day. For Danny, whose birthday is in March, he would’ve had to drop out of school in the middle of the second semester of a typical school year. However, on July 28, 2021, Gov. Pritzker signed HB 40 and HB 2748, which allowed special needs students to continue the school year in which they turned 22. My family and I are very blessed for the community that gathers around to help, but again not every place is like this. All the money that is raised to eradicate a word could be used to help so many families, schools and communities. 

I interviewed Moraine Valley student, Gracey Martin, who works at Orland Parks Special Recreation, and helps with Special Olympics. “My opinion or my thoughts around it is since it is a word that has gained so much stigma and had such a big connotation” Gracey expressed, “but I feel like it would be extremely difficult to separate those two things and go back to using it in more like medical… as a society and population to step away from that.” Gracey and I had a great discussion about this topic, and she even mentioned that any word could be turned into a negative meaning. I never even realized that because the word has been given such a negative meaning that going back to say the medical meaning probably wouldn’t even make a difference.  

Now my brother Danny probably wouldn’t care what you called him because he sees everyone as a good person because he is just a gentle soul who likes to be busy and have something to do. I wish activists could see that the money being raised to get rid of a word could be used to help him get a job, join even more activities if he wanted, even have health insurance, be somewhat independent, or even have housing. The money could help families whose special needs children needed more medical attention, supplies for school, etc. Also, these kids are so much more than the “r” word and by focusing on a word that describes them, we are losing sight of the intelligence, strength, and contribution that people like my brother make to society.