On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 12:20:08 -0700, Tom C <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I call people at work 'retards' all the time, under my breath. There's this > one guy... it's the word that enters my brain on first sight. > >
Well, in all seriousness, I sometimes shake my head in amazement. We were told to stop saying "retarded", as it's demeaning. So we then we were supposed to say "developmentally delayed", or just "delayed". Of course delayed means that you don't get somewhere as quickly as might be expected. Retarded means slower. Hmmmm... And the problem with both euphemisms is that in each word there's an implication that the afflicted person will eventually reach their goal. When one is mentally retarded or developmentally delayed or whatever one wishes to call it, that goal will, sadly, never be reached in the vast majority (if not all) cases. My ex, a social worker, quite in tune with the ways of political correctness, says that we should now say that retarded people are "challenged", or (my favourite) "differently abled" Well, sorry, but the fact that one's intellectual capacity is diminished does ~not~ mean that other faculties are enhanced to compensate! It seems to me that it's often quite the contrary, that many who are retarded have multiple physical ailments or even disabilities (not challenges!). I could go on, but I really don't know what I'm "supposed" to call those with such unfortunate afflictions, so I've recently been thinking that going back to "retarded" may be the way to go. Thanks. I needed to get that off my chest... <g> -frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
