With use of the word “retarded” on the rise, a new advertising campaign is urging people to leave the term in the past much like many other outdated practices that were once commonplace.
A public service announcement released ahead of World Down Syndrome Day this Saturday, says that people used to do many things that are no longer acceptable or desirable ranging from washing their clothes with urine to throwing garbage off of their balconies and selling their wives.
“Today we don’t do these things anymore because we learned they’re absurd, unhygienic or simply harmful to someone. Well, the r-word is harmful to us,” the British actor Noah Matthews Matofsky says in the new ad. Matofsky, who has Down syndrome, was the first actor with a visible disability that Disney cast in a lead role when he appeared in “Peter Pan & Wendy” in 2023.
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The r-word, which many people with disabilities find offensive, is problematic even if it isn’t targeted at this population, according to the campaign.
“It’s still harmful because it reinforces the stereotype that we’re good for nothing and worthless,” Matofsky says in the spot. “If you keep using it, it’s like you’re still washing your clothes with urine.”
The awareness campaign dubbed “Just Evolve” comes from CoorDown, a Down syndrome organization in Italy. The group partnered with the National Down Syndrome Society, the Global Down Syndrome Foundation and others around the world on the effort.
“We are aware that 90% of the time people use these words and it is not to directly offend people with disabilities,” said Martina Fuga, president of CoorDown. “But their use contributes to creating a cultural context that associates disability with inability, failure and marginality. The words we choose shape reality. We want every person who still uses these harmful expressions to stop today. Not because ‘you can’t say anything anymore,’ but because they belong to the past.”
A website for the “Just Evolve” campaign features an AI agent specially trained to advise individuals, schools, companies, members of the media and others on the types of language that can be hurtful to people with disabilities and what they can do about it.
The push comes as use of the r-word has accelerated in recent times, propelled by people like President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. A report out late last year found that use of the term ballooned 225.7% on the social media platform X after Trump used it in a post in November and remained high for days.
“The language we use matters,” Kandi Pickard, CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society. “Words shape how people are perceived and valued, and choosing respectful language is an important step in building a more inclusive society.”
