Palsy Party Day Two : Never a good word

 Today is Spread the Word to  End the word.

 The word is Retarded.  It is not a nice word.

 In a US  History class at my private college.  Which  was not inclusive.   My professor used this  word.  My  stomach  dropped.    He said  something about  the fact that   Cotton gin  was not  invented  retarded   the  growth  of cotton.


 Now  you  may be wondering  why this upset me, it still does  because  my reaction to it  was a reason why I was not permitted  to attend  the next year.  First off  the professor  yelled at me  saying it was a fine word to use in that case. Second  the administration  defended him, including the  disability person.

   I am sorry but when is that word ever okey. Why is it that a term that is considered hurtful to  people, children and adults,  ever be okey to use.    If   a student with an intellectual disability  was in the class they may not understand that you were not talking about them.  That is why it is never a  good word to use.

  Please go sign the pledge  and eliminate this dreadful word from your vocabulary.

31 for 21 Day 29 : A video everyone needs to see

   This is the  video that started Spread the Word  to End the Word.  I  really  like this video.

31 for 21 Day 28 Rude customers scare me

            The biggest fear I have at work is that  a customer will call  me the r word.  You may be wondering why  I have that fear since I do not have an intellectual  disability.

      I work  in the college  bookstore.  I  work the cash  register, see  below for money handling tips, and sometimes it gets busy.   I  do have  unclear speech and  problems   using my hands at times, so  uneducated people  could  assume  that I have an intellectual disability.  Being in fear of  a word being used  towards me should show  how  bad  the word is.  The word stings   and  should not be used.


 The closest thing that I have come to the r word was a customer  trying to grab his  merchandise.  from me.  It really  rattled me up.   My boss is  really great  and has told me that he would defend me.  My boss is the best boss ever.




 Here  is  a related story about  having others back  at work.

Dear Pete Schiff,

 My  family  has a weekday   night time tradition watching the  Daly Show  and  the  Colbere   Report.    Due to the   State of the  Union  Adress  it was not  on  when  I went down  stairs.
  So I was dishearten   when  I   saw the following clip .


    I  really  hated  the last  part.  It felt like  I  was being  punched  in the gut.    You  see  I am 22 years old  and  live  with a developmental disability.     I have  Cerebral  Palsy.

  No  I  do not have  a  intellectual  disability that is  the  proper  term  now  not  the  R  word .  Although  if you met  me    you might think that I do  because  I have a speech  impairment  and  drool  at  times.   But  it  still  hurts  what   Pete  said.     I do not  respect  him   enough to  use his  last  name.

      In  the spring of  2009   I had a school  meeting  at which  time  a  job  coach  sat  across the  table  from  me and my  mother and  recommend  that I    work at Safeway,  most likely  working  for  pennies a  hour, and live in   a group home.   He  had said this    despite the  fact that I was in my second semester of   Advanced  Placement    United States  History,  which  I  ended up   passing the AP  test  with  a three.    I was a junior at the time, so  when senior  year rolled around  I  was scared  of    leaving  high school.   Can  you  blame  me?    I did not  want  to  do it and I  assumed that  the  job coach was right because he  worked in the field and knew me.  Senior year   I  had to work   one of those jobs and I hated.  I  got a pay check   but was   unaware of the  low  wages.     To this day I am scared  of working a  entry  level  job.      Its not  fair .  I  want to  get   off  social  security,  you see that is where the money comes from   but its hardly enough to live off of.


        After   high school,   I  decided to  attend  a  community  college and  I  excelled in those classes. I  got  good  grades.  I  got so many that when  I   graduated  I was able to graduate with honors.   Thats  right a  person  who  was   predicted  to  work  for   pennies  a hour   went on to graduate with honors.   I am not  worthless.  I  attend   university  where  people   did not   respect    me and    am  currently on a leave of absence to  care of my health.


 The  world  is not set up for  people with disabilities.       Colleges  do not  know how  to  included  those with developmental  disabilities and  thanks  to the loophole in  the Fair  Employment Act    the jobs  that  societies  expect us to do barely  pay  us  anything.   Disabled  people have  feelings  and   we want   to  be include  in life.      We can  be  tax  payers,  some  people   may need help  paying  taxes but they  can  still  pay   them.  We  do not need   to be  dependent on the    government.


  Oh   and  our  founding  fathers   said  this  about  people.


   "  We  all  hold  these  truths to be self  eve dent that all  men  are created  equal."   Ring a  bell.   If not  look  in the Declaration  of  Independence and  maybe then you will  find a  heart

Spread the word My Story

          This is an old post that   I wrote a few years ago on the R word.   This was originally published on my old blog  Amazing AZ.   Hope you  enjoy

 signing the pledge 3-3-2010

     Back in high school I  spear headed   a new  club  called  Dons Disability Awareness  Club. One  of the  events  we did was a Spread the word to end the word .  It was a great  event and many people signed the  pledge  and  I still have  numerous  wristbands  lying around the house.

   People  might ask  me  why I care so much  about the use of the  the  word   retarded.  I  mean I  do not  have   a intellectual disability.  I have  a physical disability   and a speech  disability but  not a intellectual disability so the  word is  just a word to me  right  wrong

     When I was ten  years  old my parents  signed me up  for judo at the local rec center, The  class  met  Tuesdays and  Thursdays  in the  gym  for an hour.  I  signed  up in February and  before long   my  friend ,she  is no longer my friend,joined shortly after   lets call her  B. She  was deaf and had  NVLD, like me, but she  was  in inclusive education  at the local elementary school which  was connected  to the  rec.  As  faith would have it her  new neighbors  would  move  in and they had  kids around   our age.  A fifth  grader,  a  year ahead of us, a third  grader and  a  four year old who was the only girl in the bunch.  The  third  grader  who we will call LM  happened to have Down Syndrome.   I met them  when  LM came to  join a judo class after  my friends mom  told  her new neighbor about the class  and  shortly there after   LM and I became friends.

   A  few years later LM was  at our same school  in middle school and the three of us always hung out together,. At the  time LM was  into  basketball so every lunch hour   LM and I would gobble down our lunches and  race to  the blacktop to play  in pickup games on one such  occasion we were  playing  with  a  other kids  in my grade, so  older then LM ,  and  LM was doing the best he could.  He  did not have  dribbling down,  needed  reminders of what basket to shoot  at, and  got too close  to the defender.   Most of the  other kids were vary nice to him and  gave him  the ball and  not block him and let him shoot but  on one  occasion a kid  who was  dribbling the ball  and  LM was  trying to steal it from  her she  said.

"GET AWAY YOU RETARD ."

LM  sat down  on the side of the  court  and  I fallowed  him.  I was  stunned.  B's mom had told me not to say that word to  LM and  now i knew  why. LM    was a charming fellow. He loved basketball and Disney movies and did  judo.  He was  full of life   but   the person who called him the R word had  taken all that away from him as if  she  had  popped a balloon that was LM's spirit.    

.

To this day the memory of that  day  is  vivid and  runs deep.  He  is the  reason why  I  started   Spread the word to end the word  at my high school last year. He is the reason why  Spread the word to end the word   will be there  this year  even though I  no longer   attend.   LM  was the first person I  really got to know   with a intellectual disability but he was not the last. B encourage  me  to become a special Olympics  athlete and  I now  know many people  in my area wit intellectual disabilities. People with  Intellectual disabilities are  people   who have  different personalities.    These people can be cliquish while others can be vary sweet and accept everyone.   But when   people  use the R word  they lump them all  together  in to a group that is beneath  the speak.  

 Having CP  which results in unclear s speech I  sometimes  get  treated as  though I have  a intellectual disability  due to my speech.  I know  the feeling  and it is not a good one. i  see  the  mindset  of thinking that  they are above me  and it does not feel right. I am  intelligent  but  even if i wasn't  I still would want to be treated with respect:Learning is  not everything   everyone needs to  realize  that a person is a person   who has  feelings  we  all   cry the  same tears. We all  feel sadness.  It is  what makes  us  human  so  think about that the  next time  before  use the  R word,

  Words DO Hurt

 Spread the word to end the word

R word Myth

It is  OK  to use the word  if   no disabled person, or someone who loves them,  is a  around  

  Negative

 Just as  I was thought in elementary school  integrity  means  that  u act the same  in the dark  as  u do  in the  light

 for  more  info on this    click  here

Why the R word hurts: a friends perspective

 signing the pledge last year 3-3-2010

     Back in high school I  spear headed   a new  club  called  Dons Disability Awareness  Club. One  of the  events  we did was a  Spread the word to end the word .  It was a great  event and many people signed the  pledge  and  I still have  numerous  wristbands  lying around the house.

   People  might ask  me  why I care so much  about the use of the  the  word   retarded.  I  mean I  do not  have   a intellectual disability.  I have  a physical disability   and a speech  disability but  not a intellectual disability so the  word is  just a word to me  right  wrong

     When I was ten  years  old my parents  signed me up  for judo at the local rec center, The  class  met  Tuesdays and  Thursdays  in the  gym  for an hour.  I  signed  up in February and  before long   my  friend ,she  is no longer my friend,joined shortly after   lets call her  B. She  was deaf and had  NVLD, like me, but she  was  in inclusive education  at the local elementary school which  was connected  to the  rec.  As  faith would have it her  new neighbors  would  move  in and they had  kids around   our age.  A fifth  grader,  a  year ahead of us, a third  grader and  a  four year old who was the only girl in the bunch.  The  third  grader  who we will call LM  happened to have Down Syndrome.   I met them  when  LM came to  join a judo class after  my friends mom  told  her new neighbor about the class  and  shortly there after   LM and I became friends.

   A  few years later LM was  at our same school  in middle school and the three of us always hung out together,. At the  time LM was  into  basketball so every lunch hour   LM and I would gobble down our lunches and  race to  the blacktop to play  in pickup games on one such  occasion we were  playing  with  a  other kids  in my grade, so  older then LM ,  and  LM was doing the best he could.  He  did not have  dribbling down,  needed  reminders of what basket to shoot  at, and  got too close  to the defender.   Most of the  other kids were vary nice to him and  gave him  the ball and  not block him and let him shoot but  on one  occasion a kid  who was  dribbling the ball  and  LM was  trying to steal it from  her she  said.

"GET AWAY YOU RETARD ."

LM  sat down  on the side of the  court  and  I fallowed  him.  I was  stunned.  B's mom had told me not to say that word to  LM and  now i knew  why. LM    was a charming fellow. He loved basketball and Disney movies and did  judo.  He was  full of life   but   the person who called him the R word had  taken all that away from him as if  she  had  popped a balloon that was LM's spirit.    

.

To this day the memory of that  day  is  vivid and  runs deep.  He  is the  reason why  I  started   Spread the word to end the word  at my high school last year. He is the reason why  Spread the word to end the word   will be there  this year  even though I  no longer   attend.   LM  was the first person I  really got to know   with a intellectual disability but he was not the last. B encourage  me  to become a special Olympics  athlete and  I now  know many people  in my area wit intellectual disabilities. People with  Intellectual disabilities are  people   who have  different personalities.    These people can be cliquish while others can be vary sweet and accept everyone.   But when   people  use the R word  they lump them all  together  in to a group that is beneath  the speak.  

 Having CP  which results in unclear s speech I  sometimes  get  treated as  though I have  a intellectual disability  due to my speech.  I know  the feeling  and it is not a good one. i  see  the  mindset  of thinking that  they are above me  and it does not feel right. I am  intelligent  but  even if i wasn't  I still would want to be treated with respect:Learning is  not everything   everyone needs to  realize  that a person is a person   who has  feelings  we  all   cry the  same tears. We all  feel sadness.  It is  what makes  us  human  so  think about that the  next time  before  use the  R word,

  Words DO Hurt

 Spread the word to end the word

 please comment before u leave




 got images  from

 judo- http://www2.nijmegen.nl/mmbase/images/964763/judo.jpg
 basketball-http://web.ocknights.org/images/basketball_cartoon.jpg
 spread the word  date for 2011-http://media.specialolympics.org/soi/files/spread-the-word/STW-Dated-Dark.jpg
 tear drop-http://wwwcdn.net/ev/assets/images/vectors/afbig/water-drop-clip-art.jpg
 Be a fan -http://nyso.org/STW2010.jpg

If you could walk in my shoes

 From the  TV movie  to kill a mockingbird also a good movie

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill a Mockingbird
Atticus Finch to daughter Scout, Chapter 3

 I loved  reading  To Kill a mockingbird   if u  have not had a chance to  read it  Now to move   mediums from books to   Television









 I am soo happy that this is finally out  I am  thrilled  I got bullied in elementry and middle school, What happened in middle school is below


 
I remember when I was little and my dad told me that "Sticks and Stones can break your bones but words can never hurt you. Well I don't think it is true... Wait let me rephrase that it is . Princess and book gal have a easy cry baby that would me. My dad says that I am too sensitive and tells me to ignore it. That is the bad advice that you can give a victim of bullying disabled or not .Still don't believe me okay here comes a story



In sixth grade my mom and dad through that I should have one class in special education called RSP. it basically is a study hall with a special needs teacher who helps you do the work. Well in Sixth grade I had a guy in my class who always said I was a loner and no one played with me. I told the teacher and she said to ignore it because he was from a bad family and needed attention. Well I never could ignore it and I spent the remainder of my first middle school year yelling at him back and froth.


The school thorough I had behavior problems so in seventh grade I was put into a RSP room with a strict teacher and mean kids. Man did I hate that class. There were three other kids in the class who teased me and like the guy in 6th grade all of them came from middle class families trying to make ends meet. What made it worse was that there was a nice RSP room with good kids who teacher was nice. I also was the only one with my teachers on my RSP teacher case load The nice one had the others.


On Wednesdays were the hardest day of the week. The teacher had meetings that day and we were under supervision of a sub. One peculiar Wednesday a girl said that the entire 7th grade hated me. She was training for a peer helper and the class was talking about me and how much they hated me. My aid talked to me and sat by me during my next class and we talked to the head teacher(Who is a great guy that i had for math the next year) who told me that they had been talking about how to treat someone with a disability and my name came up. Someone did not learn their lesson.

Words do hurt and schools need to be aware of this and help those getting teased and don't tell them to ignore it . Think about it this way if your son/ daughter fell and scarped his/her knee you wipe it up right. Well bullying is like that only the cut is invisible It's a cut to the child self esteem

me and Lauren potter from Glee  she is spearheading the campaign I  am trying to get involved with this campaign

I do not get by

Remeber the Beatles song I get by with a little help from my friends well for me I do not get by with help because I do not feel that I have friends to lean on. I do have the kid from my b ball team who is my best friend but he is only a eighth grader. I have typical friends but they are not scared of transiton so it is hard to go to them for help. Plus I have the suspiction that i tag along with them instead of being true friends with them. I have some socal skills but as a senior in high school (with five days left) I can not work in groups I still act like a child. i am no where near ready and hanging out with Mr T is out of the picture as well so how am I going to survive.

At Special Olympics there are kids who could realte but DD has single handly made it so I do not have acess to them. The girls are disabled and whats more they have fromed a click and make my life a liveing hell. I got into a fight with them saying that they belong in Slytheren( from harry potter) and they belong to the vampire hunters( They realy enjoy twilight) The coach then repermand me for makeing this wrose because I also cussed at them ( was tempted to use the R word but I did not ) So I do not know how I am going to deal with the transition from high school. If anyone has a time machine can you please let me use it to go back to the begging of senior year instead of where i am now

Words do hurt part two

Tuesday December 1 2009 time second period in a high school class room Mr_______ (a special ed teacher) and the students of the class including AZ.

AZ: Aww Mr.___ why did u have to put in 0 for this chapter .( I had to work three days to finish a worksheet)I now had 25 and my mom yelled at me.

Mr.___: You earned it AZ you say you will do it and never do

the other students are inside the classroom now. Mr.___ is about to give a lecture

Mr.___: Who says we need so more troops all we have to do is send AZ and the Iraqis will heProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

she is coming and run away,

Mr. ____ is a special Education teacher who made fun of me. it is nor funny to me. Mr.B knows I do not have lots of friends and by caking a joke he is making a emphasis on this fact and that I should be avoided . When I was in third grade i remember being called Ronzilla and people running away from me. Ir was coined by a boy who made fun of my speech kids would call it and run away from me on the playground. Did Mr________ know this on Tuesday when he told the joke no but he still should not have done it should he?

stay posted for how it turns out I tried to talk to Mr.____ but could not. For anyone who dose know me in real life I am really interested in what you have to say.

WORDS DO HURT End the R word

This old post is what I wrote last Augest. It is not about the r word but it goes right along with this topic

I remember when I was little and my dad told me that "Sticks and Stones can break your bones but words can never hurt you. Well I don't think it is true... Wait let me rephrase that it is . Princess and book gal have a easy cry baby that would me. My dad says that I am too sensitive and tells me to ignore it. That is the bad advice that you can give a victim of bullying disabled or not .Still don't believe me okay here comes a story



In sixth grade my mom and dad through that I should have one class in special education called RSP. it basically is a study hall with a special needs teacher who helps you do the work. Well in Sixth grade I had a guy in my class who always said I was a loner and no one played with me. I told the teacher and she said to ignore it because he was from a bad family and needed attention. Well I never could ignore it and I spent the remainder of my first middle school year yelling at him back and froth.


The school thorough I had behavior problems so in seventh grade I was put into a RSP room with a strict teacher and mean kids. Man did I hate that class. There were three other kids in the class who teased me and like the guy in 6th grade all of them came from middle class families trying to make ends meet. What made it worse was that there was a nice RSP room with good kids who teacher was nice. I also was the only one with my teachers on my RSP teacher case load The nice one had the others.


On Wednesdays were the hardest day of the week. The teacher had meetings that day and we were under supervision of a sub. One peculiar Wednesday a girl said that the entire 7th grade hated me. She was training for a peer helper and the class was talking about me and how much they hated me. My aid talked to me and sat by me during my next class and we talked to the head teacher(Who is a great guy that i had for math the next year) who told me that they had been talking about how to treat someone with a disability and my name came up. Someone did not learn their lesson.

Words do hurt and schools need to be aware of this and help those getting teased and don't tell them to ignore it . Think about it this way if your son/ daughter fell and scarped his/her knee you wipe it up right. Well bullying is like that only the cut is invisible It's a cut to the child self esteem