Today is Spread the Word to End the Word Day!!
Special Olympics and Best Buddies have come together to create a day of awareness for Person-First Language.
What is Person-First Language, you ask? To put it simply, it is a way of referring to people in a way that respects them as people first, and their disability or illness last.
Some examples:
Don't say: The Autistic Boy
DO say: The boy with Autism
Don't say: The down Syndrome child
DO say: The child who happens to have down Syndrome.
Don't say: That person IS Special Needs
DO say: That person HAS Special Needs
Get it? Pretty easy.
The biggest goal of this day is to eliminate the use of the R-Word. That's right....retarded. This word gets thrown around so often in our culture in a derogatory way. It hurts my heart. When you use the r-word to describe something as silly, or useless you are in fact describing people with cognitive impairments as silly or useless.
It is SO easy to break this habit! Add a little bit of intentionality to your speech and you are good to go!
After all, we are ALL made in the image of God!
There are some great videos floating around today, but I had to share this one. It's made by students at my Alma Mater! Go Lakers!
Head on over to the End The Word facebook page for more information!
Be blessed!
Heather
Thank you for sharing - I think education about the topic is of utmost importance and SO glad you are sharing!! xoxo
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! Education in this is KEY. What a great way to spread the word... thanks!
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