A few days ago, I overheard a pre teen yell to his friend "Dude you’re retarded!" My whole body cringed as the words so easily flowed from his mouth without a second thought. I’ve spent the last seven years working with all different kinds of children and adults with disabilities. I see many of those children as my own. When they hurt, I hurt. When they laugh, I laugh. They are a part of who I am and who I have become. Many people are ignorant to the harm of the word "retard". A word once used to describe an individual with intellectual disabilities has become a word used to tell your friend they’re stupid.

The slang term for retard has now become a definition in the dictionary as a foolish or stupid person. The fact that our society openly describes a community of some of the most wonderful human beings living on this planet as “stupid and foolish” is vicious and destructive. Now, I’m not calling people who use this word, vicious people. In fact, I truly believe the word is used by people who genuinely don’t comprehend the damage they are doing with their vocabulary, but it is time they open their eyes to the community of people they are hurting.

Throughout my 23 years of living, the moments I have learned the most, been the most joyful, loved the most, and comprehended the world the most is when I am in the presence of an individual with disabilities. There is nothing stupid or foolish about a child who loves in a way that has no boundaries or hesitations. There is nothing stupid or foolish about an adult who has fought his or her way into a life of independence and normalcy. There is nothing stupid or foolish about a teenager who has learned to communicate with his or her eyes in a world that relies on audible voice. There is nothing stupid or foolish about a community of people who see the world through eyes of beauty while the rest of us see the world through eyes of judgment.

Next time you want to tell your friend that they are stupid and the only word you can think to use is retarded, try opening up a dictionary and reading through the 1,022,000 words until you find one that doesn’t create a false definition of a beautiful community of people. And next time you are looking for words to describe individuals with disabilities, try using: brave, extraordinary, creative, determined, affectionate, joyous, intelligent, or resilient.

Those words are the true definition of people with disabilities and if you don’t agree, I urge you to spend more time outside your world and into the world of these individuals before you ever speak that word again. I promise that once you do that, you will be the one feeling foolish and stupid for ever believing it was okay to call your friend a retard.