If you have a few minutes, click on the videos below. One of them is an interview with John C McGinley from the show "Scrubs". John has a son with DS. He speaks about why the word "retard" is so hurtful and why we should stop using it in everyday conversation. Personally, there have been many times when I have said to myself "oh, I am so retarded" because I was clumsy or hopeless in a situation. I actually started saying it to myself the other night, and I immediately stopped and thought about how unknowingly hurtful I could be to others if I actually spoke it outloud. According to the Special Olympics website, the word conjures up a painful stereotype of people with intellectual disabilities. It can hurt, even if it is not meant in that way.
