The phrase “mental retardation” was a medical term used in the 1900s to describe those who were neurodiverse or physically disabled. The term “retarded” comes from the French and Latin word “retardare,” which means to delay, make slow or hold back. Since the 20th century, the word has expanded past the medical community into everyday life as a synonym for “stupid” or “incapable.” The underlying intent of the word has become increasingly derogatory and has fostered negative stereotypes regarding intellectually or physically disabled persons, deeming them incapable and lesser than the average person. According to a January 2022 Bark survey, 44 percent of Redwood students heard the r-slur used at least a few times a week either in a casual conversation or in a derogatory manner. Given the demeaning nature of the slur, many find statistics such as these to be quite upsetting.
Discriminating against those with either neurological or physical disabilities has worsened over the past few decades with the popularization of social media. This has caused cyberbullying to become one of the leading forms of harassment across the world. According to the Special Olympics, an organization aimed at countering the discrimination against people with disabilities face, over two-thirds of social media posts regarding people with disabilities were negative, and nearly 29 million of these contained slurs. Social media has allowed for harassment to take place without the physical presence of others, furthering the constant marginalization those with disabilities may face.
Despite the term once being used in a professional setting, its current inappropriate use has made it socially and federally unacceptable. In 2010, President Barack Obama signed “Rosa’s Law,” which officially changed the term “mental retardation” to “intellectual disability” in U.S. Federal Law. This eliminated the word from being used in all federally funded environments such as in hospitals and in schools. The law was inspired by Rosa Marcellino, a 9-year-old girl with down syndrome and is legislation that at the time was considered a milestone in hopes of promoting inclusivity. Even with the r-slur being eliminated on a federal level, according to a survey done by The Harris Poll, around 90 percent of teens and adults said they have heard someone refer to another individual as the r-slur.
Senior Sanah Keswani-Santiago is part of this 90 percent and is aware of the constant use of the r-slur at Redwood. Keswani-Santiago dealt with a disease called the Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Encephalitis at the age of seven, which caused damage to her motor cortex, leaving her with a physical disability that has permanently put her in a wheelchair. Since the incident, Keswani-Santiago has worked with professionals to regain skills such as sitting up, writing and eating.
“I suddenly went from a very active person to not being able to do everyday activities,” Keswani-Santiago said. “I couldn’t even walk. It's improved over the years, but I had to work very hard.”
In addition to the physical implications the disability left her with, she became a member of a marginalized community, in which a large number of negative stereotypes exist. Keswani-Santiago claims the biggest implication the r-slur has on the disabled community is that it entirely diminishes efforts made by those with disorders to improve them.
“[The word is] insulting something that's completely out of someone's control,” Keswani-Santiago said. “It's insulting to all these people's efforts to try to heal their disabilities and make progress. It's a kick in the face.”
Redwood Special Education teacher Laura Leone emphasizes the social separation some neurodiverse students face and how some try to appear similar to those without disabilities.
“It’s really important to understand that a lot of students with disabilities are working very hard to not appear like they have disabilities,” Leones said. “Our goal is that we don’t want students to feel like they can’t be doing what everyone else is doing. I want our students to be in all the classes they can be in with nobody really treating them any differently.”
At Redwood, Keswani-Santiago has not experienced discriminatory language directly, but has experienced marginalization in the form of social isolation. According to the Nation Center for Biotechnology information, research has found that people with disabilities face social isolation much more often than people without disabilities. Keswani-Santiago also says that when people come up to her, the conversation usually stays quite surface level.
This is something that Special Education assistant teacher and senior Olivia Holscher has noticed as well. Holscher has witnessed people approach students with disabilities as if they are incapable of handling a mature, in-depth conversation. In addition, Holscher has observed that people speak to these students in a different tone and much slower than they would to a person without disabilities. She has characterized this as people “babying” her students, deeming them less mature than the average person.
“People just talk to them like they can’t function the way that we do. There are definitely some students who don’t talk as much, but that’s just being introverted. [Some people] take that as being ‘autistic’ or ‘low functioning.’ [So then] they’ll ask them very surface-level questions, [as if] they can’t answer the big ones,” Holscher said.
Even though the students she works with are in a separate classroom with a different schedule than the rest of the student body, Holscher emphasizes they are still our equals and should be treated as such. On the same note, Holscher points out that these students are aware of the discrimination they face and are conscious of the r-slur and its constant use towards them.
“These students are always on our campus. They’re here. They hear you. My students are very aware that if they hear someone calling [another student] r**arded, they are the ones being made fun of,” Holscher said.
Holscher’s overarching message is that no matter the context in which the word is said, it is unacceptable to use. Many students do not realize that even if the word is not directed at a person with disabilities, it is still impermissible in any context.
“I think the true issue is that people don’t understand the severity of what they’re saying; it's an easy insult,” Holscher said. “If students understood what they were saying it might be used less.”
According to Spread the Word Inclusion Global, an organization aimed at promoting inclusivity, calling a friend the r-slur as an insult reinforces the message that being neurodiverse is something to be ashamed of. Taking this into account, Holscher and Keswani-Santiago want people to understand that despite someone having a disability, they are as capable as and equal to the rest of the world.
“People with disabilities might seem like they’ve been a burden on their able-bodied [peers,] and what I want is for this perception of being a burden to be diminished,” Keswani-Santiago said. “[People with disabilities] are just like everybody else. I just want to put the education out there that there is nothing wrong with approaching me, and people shouldn’t be afraid.”
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