«
»

Speaking of retarded: Liberal MP Derrick Lee


"Liberal MP Derrick Lee, meanwhile, compared Harper’s move to suspend Parliament to the burning of the Reichstag in Germany by the Nazis."

Let’s answer polarizing inflammatory rhetoric with more polarizing inflammatory rhetoric.

This entry was posted on December 5, 2008, 7:43 am and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

  1. #1 by joseph on December 5, 2008 - 1:10 pm

    A very minor quibble, and perhaps overly sensitive: “retarded” need not be a perjorative term.

    thanks,
    Joseph Walker
    member,
    Canadian Down Syndrome Society,
    Edmonton Down Sydrome Society,
    L’Arche Edmonton

  2. #2 by LT on December 5, 2008 - 2:11 pm

    Hi Joe

    I thought that the community of organizations that helps special needs people had long since given up on the term. (I have a boy diagnosed ADHD, and PDD NOS so I’m all too familiar with special needs and the developmentally challenged.) I’ve worked with a couple different organization and they would never call any of their clients “retards.”

    Do you think I should avoid using the term?

  3. #3 by joseph on December 5, 2008 - 5:32 pm

    Leighton, I recall reading about your son in a post from quite a while back (hard to believe I’ve lurked here for several years now!). I have no questions regarding your own integrity.

    The questions around vocabulary are often difficult in our circles. Although “retarded” is generally not used much anymore in the medical and profesional communities, it is still in popular usage, and generally with a negative connotation. It is most common in verbal bullying of children who are attempting inclusive education.

    Sorry to distract from the content of the thread, and I’ll go back to lurking for a few more years…! I’ve always enjoyed reading your blog.

Comments are closed.