31 for 21: Day 9 {R} Word

Retarded. ‘Tard. It’s the exact same thing. Did that have any affect on you? This is what it did to me..it made me cringe.it made me want to throw up. it made me want to cry. it made me want to yell from the top of my lungs.stop using that word. period.
What about this…”That is so retarded” this is what I heard. That is so Avery.
Or this..”I’m such a ‘tard.” this is what I heard. I’m such a Avery.
Why do we teach our kids not to say s**t, or f*k or nigger or fag..or any other bad word for that matter but we cant teach our kids not to say retard.  We have come along way in educating people not to say it but the younger kids are STILL using it. How do I know that young kids are still using it??? I had a chat with Destiny who is in 5th grade.  I asked her if she ever heard the word retard or if anyone in her class ever said r-tard for no reason. She said they say “that is so retarded” all the time. My heart literally stopped and I just wanted to cry. I have explained to her many times why we don’t say it but she cant understand why everyone else says it. They are insulting her sister and it hurts her she is way to shy to say anything to anyone about it. So they go on saying it not knowing what they are doing. When you say r-tard how do u know someone right there in front of you or someone that is listening is somehow affected by what you just said and you just hurt them with out even knowing it. I am guilty. before I had Avery I admit I said it too. I had no idea. I really did not know. I wasn’t taught any better. We as parents have a responsibility to teach our children and we are not teaching them. We need to teach them that this is a bad word to. a word that we don’t say.
Do you walk through a store and hear someone use your child's traits used synonymously with the word stupid?..I do. my husband does. my other daughters do and someday Avery will hear it. SHE WILL HEAR IT. and it is going to sting.she will come home crying. she will come home hurt.it will hurt me and I will want to go find that person and kick some serious butt..bc I know Avery wont do it. Hopefully she wont hear it from family.friends. cousins. or anybody that she loves. We wouldn’t dare say ni**er to anyone or f*g to anyone bc we know we would get our butts whooped. But yet I will have to teach her how to live in a world that uses something that is physically part of who she is as a bad word.and that sucks bc I shouldn’t have to! The diagnosis of Down syndrome comes with a diagnosis of mild to moderate mental retardation. It is a medical diagnosis! NOT a word to be thrown around lightly, used to insult yourself or others.
If you don't MEAN to insult her by saying it, then don't use it.

End the {R} Word..

So March 7th was this year's annual day of awareness to Spread the Word to End the Word day and I didn’t even do a post…crazy busy..so this is my post…a few days late.
Well, would you?? Think before you speak. "To know better, is to DO (and say) better.

Also  I read this post this morning and thought it was very well written. Very powerful!  So check it out..she wrote it way better than I could!!
http://www.chambanamoms.com/2012/03/07/mom-to-mom-the-r-word/

ARE U SERIOUS???

So I was blog hopping this morning and I come across this!!!


                                                Taken from pinterest here…
ARE U SERIOUS????  Come on people!!!  Not how I wanted to start my day off!!! So I of course had to comment and make her aware that this wasn’t  good!! Thankfully she quickly removed her post and apologized.  When are people going to get it!!! When u say the R word someone hurts and some day that might just be Avery. While mental retardation is not a bad word, when used to describe someone or something you think is bad or stupid it becomes another thoughtless hurtful word.  People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are not bad. Their condition is not bad. The prejudice and discrimination to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is BAD…and WRONG! Please stop using the word ‘retard’. It hurts individuals and families of those with disabilities.  Coming down of my pedal stool now!!!!

31 for 21: Day 15 More Alike then different

In this video, used with permission from National Down Syndrome Congress, a group of self-advocates tell the More Alike story in there own words and out of their personal experiences. Brought to NDSC by the generosity and hard work of the Cliff and Rosalie Faith family of Sacramento, California, this video goes right at issues such as the pain inflicted by the "R" word and goes on to show how self-advocates from across the country have made lives for themselves that are, indeed, more alike

31 for 21: Day 12 Not Acceptable

You might of seen this already..they played it during a commercial break of Glee last May..and I thought it was to great not to share..{I havent shared this already have I??}

31 for 21: Day 6 Retarded