National Spread the Word to End the Word day took place Wednesday, March 2. Schools and communities across the country took part in the ongoing campaign to practice respect and join together to stop the use of the word “retard(ed),” or as the Special Olympics refers to it, the “R-word.” More than 500,000 people have pledged their support since the campaign launched in 2009, and organizers encourage more people to show their support by making a pledge to end the use of the R-word and begin using the new R-word “Respect.” Locally, students at Pioneer Valley High School and St. Joseph High School held “R-word” rallies on their campuses on Spread the Word to End the Word day in an effort to create acceptance and inclusion on their campuses.
Visit www.r-word.org to take the pledge and create a community of acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
This article appears in Mar 10-17, 2016.
