Carly Findlay

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Retarded

August 16, 2011 Carly Findlay 18 Comments

Several awkward moments at dinner: 
I ask a kid who has been staring at me for 10 minutes straight to please stop staring. 
Kid’s guardian tells me ‘she can’t, she’s *retarded* too”. 
Kid’s guardian proceeds to ask me about my ichthyosis. 
Awkward all round. 
Especially at the use of the word retarded. It’s wrong.
A friend said, “You know things are wrong in the world when people are calling their own kids retarded….”

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  1. stink-bomb says

    August 16, 2011 at 9:41 pm

    *sigh* some people are truly unbelievable. i'm sorry Carly that this woman not only had the audacity to suggest that you are "retarded" but that she called her own child "retarded" too.

    retarded is a horrible word and neither of you are, even not knowing this child, i know retarded would not be the word to describe her.

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  2. Blithely Unaware says

    August 16, 2011 at 9:47 pm

    God her poor child, that's awful.

    People don't understand the power
    and etymology of the vocabulary they casually sling around.

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  3. Sarah says

    August 16, 2011 at 10:15 pm

    Retarded is another one of those words that has been co opted by lazy speakers to mean bad or any other negative experience. Nothing to do with it's real meaning. Grrr at this world!

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  4. Kim Humes says

    August 16, 2011 at 10:54 pm

    Thanks for posting this Carly. I did a blog post last week denouncing the use of the r-word and the term "downsy" in the movie The Change Up and it got a huge response. There is a group called Spread the Word to End the Word that are trying to promote this very cause (they are on Twitter and Facebook and I would recommend following). I have an older sister with Down's Syndrome so this cause is very close to my heart.I'm so glad to see others talking about this and spreading the word too!

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  5. Kim Humes says

    August 16, 2011 at 10:57 pm

    I hope it's ok that I am sharing this on the STWTETW facebook page and the page for End Disability Slurs!

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  6. kim at allconsuming says

    August 17, 2011 at 12:07 am

    HORRIFIC.

    Plain and simple.

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  7. Ling says

    August 17, 2011 at 12:27 am

    Severely awkward :S

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  8. Belinda says

    August 17, 2011 at 8:21 am

    oh dear, what a horrible woman! Time to stop thinking about her, yuk!

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  9. frogpondsrock says

    August 17, 2011 at 8:55 am

    Truly unbelievable.

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  10. Bronnie says

    August 17, 2011 at 9:00 am

    That's awful … it's like something off the Simpsons and would be funny if it wasn't so offensive.

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  11. Kel says

    August 17, 2011 at 12:31 pm

    And that's why some parents, shouldn't be.

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  12. riotersbloc says

    August 17, 2011 at 1:11 pm

    Eurgh that's terrible. I seriously hate it when people don't think twice about the language they use..

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  13. jj says

    August 17, 2011 at 9:35 pm

    I almost forgot to mention…I almost never tune in to Tripple J, but recently I did. And guess who was on?
    It was a case of tuning into Radio Carly!

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  14. Pauline Black says

    August 18, 2011 at 12:38 am

    OMG, i can't believe one's own parent would speak this way. How appalling and extremely sad!!! What hope do her children have. The R and SP word are banned in our circles. I remember as a kid, my brother pushing me around in my wheelchair, and kids shouting across the road, "SP". My brother used to go off his tree.

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  15. Rose Petals in the Rain says

    August 18, 2011 at 8:42 am

    That is just so awful! I'm shocked!

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  16. tracey says

    August 18, 2011 at 9:48 am

    I can't believe a parent of a special child would use that word – it's such an ugly word for such beautiful kids..

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  17. Anonymous says

    August 19, 2011 at 11:17 pm

    Hi Carly,

    Sorry if I sound rude -but could you enlighten me on the offensiveness of the R word? I've always thought that it was one of those words whose meaning has been misconstrued over time, so would be horrified if I've got the meaning incorrect!

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  18. amber says

    August 28, 2011 at 10:58 pm

    I know that this shouldn't have made me laugh, but it's just so AWFUL that I hope — one day — you can have a chuckle about it.

    I put on a lot of weight last year due to some medication I was taking. I swear, people commented on or asked about my "pregnancy" more than 20 times in a six-month period. The worst time was when I went to do a cartwheel in front of a group of students, and a girl in grade 6 said to me: "But don't hurt your baby, miss!"

    People make all sorts of wild assumptions based on looks, but they don't stop to think about how much their comments can hurt.

    Thank you for sharing this awkward story. Just remember that people are prone to saying stupid things…

    x A

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