Texas takes on ‘R-word’
April 21st, 2009From the Austin [TX] American-Statesman:
The Texas legislature is considering a bill that would ban variations of the word “retarded” in official state business. The bill, promoted by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) would ban terms including “mental retardation” in all state statutes and resolutions, replacing them with variations of the phrase “intellectual disabilities.”
The Austin-area Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center will soon adopt a new name that doesn’t include the term “mental retardation.” The change will cost about $13,000 for such things as stationery and legal expenses.
The language changes are being promoted by advocates like 39-year-old Claudia Cardenas. “I’ve been called retarded all my life,” she said. “It made me feel like I was nobody.”
Our RSS Feed
April 21st, 2009 at 11:28 am
My son has Down’s. He loves the movies but seems like so many of them are reckless in using the R word.I feel like I have to censor them more for rudeness than crudeness these days.