#idd

This is Anti-IDD!

Why the r-word is a slur and isn't comparable to words like "idiot"

I just got an uninformed comment on a recent ask saying "the r-word isn't a slur" with a link to an article - this is it - it is someone's personal piece, it isn't based in fact and makes claims that the special olympics doesn't explain how the r-word "is any more hurtful or bullying than 'intellectually disabled'." - so I will also be explaining those differences here.

The R-word Directly Refers To Those With IDDs

The R-word has been used in medical texts into the 2000s in reference to Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. It lacks the degree of separation from those with IDDs that much more juvenile insults such as "idiot, moron, and stupid" would hold. In short, the R-word as a slur has direct references to those with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

With That Established, What Differentiates Calling Someone The R-Word Compared To Calling Them Intellectually Disabled?

The simple answer is both evolution of language, and context. In the US during the 2010s, medical texts evolved from using the r word as a term, into using "Intellectual Disability", the reasoning behind this is that the R-word was taken away from its medical usage into the hands of non Intellectually Disabled individuals to be used as an insult against those with Intellectual Disabilities. Due to the context of the R-word being turned derogatory to directly reference those with Intellectual Disabilities, the term's usage in medical texts evolved to have a word that was not being used to insult people. This doesn't mean that "Intellectual Disabled" cannot and has not been used in derogatory manners, it just means that it lacks the derogatory background of the R-word.

A Brief History of The R-word

The R-word means "to hinder, delay, slow", now in the previous point I mentioned how evolution of language led to the removal or the R-word from medical texts. In the 19th-20th centuries, words like "imbecile, moron, idiot" were used professionally in medical texts both for those with IDDs and low intelligence; however, these words would in these early years also be used derogatorily, thus the R-word would be adopted. Now, as mentioned with the previous point, the R-word would turn derogatory, and with its specific ties to being used for those with IDDs, it would be replaced with Intellectual Disability. Even if the R-word was used less derogatively, it would have deeply rooted ties to psychiatric practices within the 20th century, practices that were often abusive, degrading, and/or prejudiced, adding onto the word being used to harm rather than help. Disabled is more neutral than the R-word, it lacks the abusive and derogatory ties the R-word has, again, this isn't to say that disabled as a term cannot and has not been used offensively, but it lacks the very deeply ingrained ableism within the R-word.

and i don't even notice because i'm "in my own world" some people say but my best friend sometimes tells me when i ask

but because i know it happens, it makes me feel guilty being in public with my abled friends and family. i don't want them to be upset when people are mean to me

This is agorableism.

It is disgustingly common how often people with tease autistic people for using disability aids in public. Often times when I use ear defenders or I have a visible difference from the ‘norm’, people assume that I can’t even hear them.

i don't. exactly know if we have an intellectual disability (we do have developmental i don't know if that's related or the same. or if we have intellectual and developmental?), but they told us we did (in exactly those words, and in many implied actions, and in a lot of things they said about how capable we were) and whether we do or not i think saying that we're not allowed to read mature content because we're disabled and can't tell what's right or wrong is um. bad.

we aren't with them anymore. for a lot of reasons but especially things like this.

this is Anti-IDD!

Requested by yours truly.

The requester elaborates: On her intake form [link], they are stated to have all the above diagnoses, and mention having qpps on the official carrd [link]! (eyestrain/flashwarning for the carrd) The only part of this that is headcanon is their intersexuality :)

Psychotic and STPD flag only edits under the cut!

Rocky is an adult. He has a life partner, he is an engineer, and he is just as necessary as Grace is for saving their stars.

He also uses AAC to communicate, even after Grace picks up more of his language. He uses models and gestures to communicate before the computer. The translation itself uses simplified sentence structure and few or no pronouns.

And Grace adapts! He picks up some of Rocky's language. He figures out the models and even makes some of his own for Rocky. He uses a similar sentence structure as Rocky's translator sometimes!!!

To an extent, it's an analogy for communicating with someone whose native language differs from one's own. BUT the fact that Rocky uses sound to interact with the world first over sight really solidifies the disability analogy.

Grace builds Rocky technological accommodations and listens to his input and genuinely enjoys his presence. And I think that Grace is so willing to do that because no one does that for him on Earth. People listen, but they giggle at his awkwardness and his stumbling over words and his bad timing and his interests. And when someone, an alien who physically cannot speak English (or any other Earth language), finds himself in space and works to meet him where he is, works to communicate with him in ways he understands, he jumps at the opportunity to match that

Some people focus on how Rocky adapts to Grace's human or American cultural tendencies, which is important! But my favorite thing about these two is how Grace does the same for Rocky. He acknowledges Rocky's unique perspective, learns how to communicate effectively, and values Rocky as an intellectual, a friend, and a living being.

And Rocky's value to the plot isn't just as an academic! The emotional connection he has with Grace is just as important. They keep each other alive. They hope together. They feel together, they fear together, they celebrate together. Rocky's worth isn't in what he can provide Earth, and his worth to Grace isn't what he can provide him. Grace loves him because they're friends. They talk, they share interests, they learn about each other and each others' homes and cultures. Rocky and the Eridians have value purely because they are alive. They are worth protecting because they are alive. Even when Grace thought he'd never live to see the planet survive.