Paul Williams doesn’t want to hear the “R-word.”
“I was in Spring Valley walking, and some people came up in a car and called me, ‘Retard.’ I didn’t like that word at all,” Williams said. “I was kind of hurt when they said that.”
He told the hecklers to get out of there, but the sting remained.
So Williams, as the new president of People First of Illinois Valley, was happy to hear that the Illinois law they’ve been advocating to replace the phrase “mental retardation” with the preferred language “intellectual disability” now has been signed by the governor and will be effective Jan. 1, 2012.
Members of People First, an organization with chapters across the country, first campaigned to pass Rosa’s Law on the federal level, which was signed in 2010 and makes the same changes in federal law.
Williams hopes removing the “R-word” from state and federal laws will emphasize a new word in the discussion: Respect.
Amy Sadnick, who served four years as president of the local chapter, recalled speaking with state Rep. Frank Mautino (D-Spring Valley) and O.J. Stoutner, an aide for state Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) to support the legislation.
“I went to Spring Valley to see Frank Mautino to help me go through what I wanted done,” Sadnick said. After their conversation, Mautino agreed to be a co-sponsor for the bill.
Sadnick also carried petitions and sought signatures from everyone she met, and Williams kept up a regular letter-writing campaign, contacting state and federal legislators.
Momentum for the change has built over the past decade, along with campaigns to replace derogatory language with phrases that emphasize “people first,” before describing their disabilities.
Dan Fitzgerald, director of programs and services with Horizon House, also works with members of People First. Though the advocacy group is independent of Horizon House, many of its members receive services through the local organization or are employed at Horizon Industries. He said organizations that were founded decades ago, when “mental retardation” was considered an appropriate term, have changed their names in recent years.
For example, the American Association on Mental Retardation became the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in 2008, and President George W. Bush in 2003 changed the name of the President’s Commission on mental Retardation to the President’s Commission on Intellectual Disabilities.
Removing the offensive language from state laws continues that movement toward more respectful language.
Sadnick previously had announced the legislative change as the group’s No. 1 priority for the year. With that accomplished, they are ready to move on to their second goal: sending as many of their 29 members as possible to the Speak Up and Speak Out Summit in November in Springfield.
That event, coordinated by self-advocacy groups throughout the state, is designed to empower people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to speak up for themselves — in cases of abuse and neglect, in determining what services they receive from the state, and in voicing their own political opinions. The local chapter estimates transportation, registration and hotels for the three-day summit would cost $6,825, and are seeking funding through Horizon House Foundation, stipends from the event coordinators and community donations to make it possible.
Donations to support the group can be directed to People First of Illinois Valley, in care of Julie Giammerese, treasurer, 303 E. Cleveland St., Spring Valley, IL 61362.
# As posted by NewsTribune: article by Allison Ryan Aug 05 2011
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Not Acceptable R-word PSA
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Uploaded by EndtheRword on May 20, 2011
"Not Acceptable" is a powerful and compelling 30 second television PSA which gives voice to a variety of diverse communities each of whom expresses that it is not acceptable to call them by what were once common words, but are now recognized as offensive slurs. It culminates in actress and self-advocate Lauren Potter from "Glee" stating that it is not acceptable to use the word 'retard' and she and "Glee" co-star Jane Lynch make a call to action to stop using the word and to promote the acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and to make their pledge online at http://r-word.org.
The PSA was launched by the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign, an on-going initiative from Special Olympics and Best Buddies to eradicate the derogatory use of the word "retard(ed)" from everyday use and promote the inclusion and acceptance of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
"Not Acceptable" was executive produced by Jim Serpico and Tom Sellitti of New York based Apostle, and shot, produced and edited by Spot On Productions from City Island, NY.
The PSA is supported by several national advocacy organization including the Anti-Defamation League, Special Olympics, Best Buddies, GLAAD, The Hispanic Federation, National Puerto Rican Coalition, The Asian-American Foundation, AbilityPath.org and the NAACP.
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