Discriminatory Language about People with Intellectual Disabilities – Particularly the ‘R’-word – Remains Prevalent Across Social Media

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2018 — Special Olympics, Best Buddies International and supporters from around the world will unite on Wednesday, March 7^th for the annual Spread the Word to End the Word® Day for society to stop and think about its use of the R-word and to rally people to pledge respect toward all individuals, making the world a more accepting and inclusive place for all people.

While progress has been made over the last 10 years of the campaign in promoting inclusion for all and changing attitudes and perceptions about people with intellectual disabilities, new research from Kantar Social Listening shows pejorative slurs and negative posts about people with intellectual disabilities continue to occur across social media. The Kantar social listening study reviewed nearly 50 million social posts in the U.S. over 2 years about people with intellectual disabilities. The sad facts: over two-thirds of posts were negative and nearly 29 million contain slurs (i.e., using the R-word or other words combined with “-tard”).

“While we have seen progress in creating change for respect and inclusion, this new research shows there is still an urgent need for us to address the issue of derogatory language,” said Soeren Palumbo, co-founder of the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign.  “As all conversation increasingly migrates online, social media channels should be a safe space for people with intellectual disabilities, their families and friends, free of social abuse and stigma. But the alarming usage of slurs and negative posts shows us our efforts have really just begun. This year we aim to bring our grassroots efforts online even more and reach 1 million online pledges for respect at www.R-word.org.”

“Often, the use of these slurs was related to the currently polarized political landscape. The key learning here is not that only people with intellectual disabilities are labeled with these terms, but rather that these terms have become an acceptable means to denigrate those with whom someone on social media may disagree,” said Kristopher Hull, Senior Vice President Kantar TNS.

“The prevalence of slurs seen in social media speaks to the concerns we’ve seen Millennials in particular have regarding how welcoming and accepting their broader community will be to those with intellectual disabilities,” said Mike Griffin, Vice President Kantar Millward Brown.

The Spread the Word to End the Word campaign engages schools, organizations and communities and urges young people around the world to take a stand in their own communities and help change the conversation by eliminating the use of the R-word and replacing it with ‘respect.’  The campaign highlights the harmful effects the word “retard(ed)” has on the millions of people with ID, their families and friends.  Use of the R-word is hurtful and painful and, whether intended or not, is a form of bullying. It is the same as any slur used against any minority group. Eliminating the use of this word is a step toward respect for all.

“I am not trying to be the ‘word police,’ but instead I am trying to let people know some words hurt people and there are other choices,” said Lauren Potter, actress and supporter of Special Olympics and Best Buddies. “I want to live in a world where people care about other people and try hard not to hurt others with words or actions.

“The Spread the Word to End the Word grassroots campaign was created in February 2009 by youth who participated in the Special Olympics Global Youth Activation Summit, held in conjunction with the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Idaho, USA. Led by Soeren Palumbo and Tim “Timbo” Shriver (son of Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver), the campaign evolved out of a united passion to promote the positive contributions people with ID make in communities around the world.

The campaign was combined with a simple call to action to take the pledge and inspired thousands of K-12 schools and universities across the country to hold rallies enlisting young people to take the pledge. To date, over 723,500 people have taken the pledge online to end the use of the R-word and millions more have signed banners and petitions throughout the world.

The Spread the Word to End the Word campaign continues to advocate for and with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and to work to make our society more inclusive. Special Olympics offers Unified Sports and inclusive leadership and education activities in over 5,500 schools in 47 states and Washington, DC, across the country and many of those schools support Spread the Word to End the Word efforts through running pledge stations or holding student rallies to promote inclusion.

Best Buddies International youth programs promote one-to-one friendship opportunities and leadership development in schools around the world, raising awareness and acceptance for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in their communities. With over 2,300 middle school, high school, and college chapters worldwide, the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign has become an integral part of the Best Buddies mission and showcases the organization’s commitment to creating inclusive opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities on a global level.

This year, Spread the Word to End the Word supporters — including the Golisano Foundation and thousands of schools around the nation — have activated their communities and neighborhoods to engage around the day with pledge events.

Get Involved!

Engage with us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/EndtheWord or Twitter at http://twitter.com/EndtheWord! Tweet this pledge today:

I pledge #Respect thru my words and actions. Will you? Pledge now to change the game for people with ID at http://r-word.org