Rosa’s Law Changed Words—Now Let’s Change the Prejudice

On the rare occasion that I spend time with people who are not educators, it’s inevitable that someone will drop the word “retarded.” The “R-word” [2] has been used colloquially for decades to describe and degrade anyone or anything out of the ordinary, inferior, or somehow slow. I can still hear the snickers from my own classmates back in 10th-grade health class when we read the words “fire retardant” in our textbook.

This word is so loaded it’s no wonder that Rosa Marcellino, a 9-year-old with Down Syndrome from Maryland, wanted it removed for good. With the help of her brother, her devoted parents, a congresswoman and finally Barack Obama, she succeeded in doing just that.

“Rosa’s Law” [3] was signed by the president on Oct. 5. Under the new law, the classification “mentally retarded” (MR) has been changed to “intellectually disabled” (ID). The criteria used to determine if a person is considered intellectually disabled is the same. Already individualized education plans (IEPs) are being updated to reflect the new language, making “mentally retarded” obsolete.

This is good news to some, a sign that we’ve progressed as a society. To them, “retarded” can go the way of its predecessors—“moron,” “idiot” and “imbecile.” Just as they can be glad that women are no longer considered hysterical, people with cognitive disabilities are no longer retarded. Remove the label and remove the prejudice.

Others are not as optimistic. “ID will be the new MR,” says Autumn Yoakum, the Special Day Class teacher at my school. “And we will have spent a ton of time and energy trying to soften the effect of a label instead of truly teaching tolerance of learning differences.” Moreover, she feels like MR is more narrow in scope and “still has a place within the category of ID. MR usually includes students that have issues socially and with self-care. ID seems more appropriate considering students who are low cognitively.”

Yoakum’s point is well taken. Simply changing the name will have little impact on the perception of people with cognitive disabilities if understanding and tolerance are not taught in tandem with these changes.

I should know.

Just the other day during passing period I heard a student say, “That’s hella retarded.” I stopped and said, “I think you know that word can be hurtful. What’s a word that better describes what you are trying to say?” The student looked at her feet with shame and thought for a moment. She clearly hadn’t meant any harm but was just using a familiar expression. After a few moments she looked up at me and said, “That’s hella weird!”

Without the time or presence of mind to take the conversation further, I declared, “Thank you. That’s better.” But it wasn’t. And it won’t be until educators like myself do more than just tell students not to use a particular word. 

Thomas teaches English at Life Academy of Health and Bioscience in Oakland, Calif.