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A mom is defending the use of the controversial word “retard” around her 8-year-old who has Down syndrome, as she believes it will help him laugh at himself later in life.
The mom from England, who details her life in the blog Unfiltered Mum, admits that she uses the word less, but has not eliminated it from her vocabulary. She thinks it will make him stronger as he grows older. One example where she believes the word is appropriate, “I have called [him] it sometimes such as when I found him on all fours drinking water out of the dog's bowl when he was four.”
She adds, “If he grows up with his mum and dad laughing at him and him laughing along it will teach him to laugh with people rather than educate millions of people not to use the word… We are trying to teach him you don't need to get offended by those people as it's not worth it.”
Watch: ‘Teen Mom’ Star Under Fire?
The Doctors weigh in on the use of the offensive term.
“How could using that word in any way shape or form help someone laugh at themselves?” ER physician Dr. Travis Stork wonders.
“This is your child, this is bullying,” Plastic surgeon Dr. Andrew Ordon adds.
Attorney Areva Martin, whose son has autism, shares that her child has been called retarded in the past, says, “The world is just so cruel and kids get punished enough, they get bullied enough, they get name-called enough. We don’t need to – as parents – add to that,” she explains, shaking her head. “There’s so many other words… we have to affirm our kids.”
Tell us your thoughts on the use of this word.
