I bet you’re wondering which word out of the plethora of words out there is the actual worst. You’re probably thinking that it’s something horrendous, something completely and totally offensive to people everywhere that it should be banned from our vocabulary. Want to know what it is? It’s the word “retard(ed).” Since this word is so horrible, I will continue to reference in this article as the r-word.

Some of you reading this might think that it’s okay to use the r-word because it’s just a word. Using it is a way of excluding people. Joseph Franklin Stephens, a Special Olympics athlete from Virginia says, “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. I want you to know that it hurts to be left out here, alone.” Working as a peer mentor, I’ve seen this kind of attitude. I remember sitting in the dining hall with a former student, enjoying our lunch together and feeling the glares of everyone. Yes, we were different, yes, she was loud and didn’t look like everyone else, and yes, she is my friend.

Others reading this might think that it’s okay to use the r-word because of its origins. At first, the term was “mental retardation,” and it was used to diagnose those that today we call intellectually disabled. Until 2010, federal education, health, and labor laws used this terminology, at which point the language changed to “intellectual disability.” The law was named for a young woman with Down syndrome whose brother said, “What you call people is how you treat them. If we change the words, maybe it will be the start of a new attitude toward people with disabilities.”

That’s the idea behind a campaign started by the Special Olympics. Today, March 1st, has been designated as End the R-Word day. The campaign encourages people to pledge to not use the r-word, and to create more accepting attitudes. There are plenty of events happening where you can sign in person, or you can sign the pledge online.