Cooper is “Retarded”

Yep, you read that correctly.  Since my seven-year-old son’s IQ is below 70, he would’ve been classified, at least until September of 2013 when the Social Security Administration officially got rid of the term, as mentally retarded.  Cooper is a sweet, strong, innocent, awesome, amazing, wonderful child. He loves to dance, sit outside in the sunshine, and be around the people he loves. And, let’s be honest, you probably know a Cooper too. Advances in medicine have made it so that kids like Cooper are living longer and more normal lives. If you don’t know a child with down syndrome, cerebral palsy, severe autism, or, like Cooper, a random chromosome disorder that results in a global developmental delay, you are pretty rare.  

So the next time you want to call someone “retarded” or say that something is “retarded,” I want you to ask yourself this: “Is this like the Cooper that you know?”  And if the answer is “no,” you need to use a better, more correct term.  Get creative, people!  You can do better than “retarded!”  Here are some alternatives:

• Dull
• Dumb
• Foolish
• Futile
• Ill-advised
• Irrelevant
• Laughable
• Ludicrous
• Naïve
• Senseless
• Shortsighted
• Simple
• Stupid
• Trivial
• Dummy
• Loser
• Rash
• Thick
• Unintelligent
• Brainless
• Dazed
• Deficient
• Dense
• Dim
• Doltish
• Dopey
• Gullible
• Half-baked
• Half-witted
• Idiotic
• Inane
• Indiscreet
• Meaningless
• Mindless
• Moronic
• Nonsensical
• Obtuse
• Out-to-lunch
• Pointless
• Slow
• Sluggish
• Thick-headed
• Unthinking
• Witless

And then go to http://www.r-word.org/ and sign the pledge to stop using that word!