{"id":6149,"date":"2012-07-19T16:36:23","date_gmt":"2012-07-19T16:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/216.185.159.195\/?page_id=6149"},"modified":"2023-05-18T14:24:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T20:24:12","slug":"words-can-hurt","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.globaldownsyndrome.org\/it\/about-down-syndrome\/words-can-hurt\/","title":{"rendered":"Le parole possono far male"},"content":{"rendered":"

Le parole possono far male<\/a>
\nWhat Words Should We Use?
\n<\/a>Words You Should NOT Use<\/a>
\nPeople First Language<\/a>
\nDon\u2019t Overreact!<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n

Le parole possono far male<\/h2>\n

Everyone knows words can hurt. For people with Down syndrome and their families, the history of \u201clabels\u201d is not a pleasant one. People with Down syndrome used to be labeled “idiots, morons,” and “imbeciles” by both society e<\/em> the medical profession. The label evolved into “Mongoloid, handicapped, mentally retarded, retarded,” and then for short, “retard.”<\/p>\n

Today, these labels are considered politically incorrect, hurtful and dehumanizing. As award-winning actor, parent-advocate, and Global Down Syndrome Foundation International Spokesperson, John C. McGinley<\/a> has said, there is no difference between derogatory words used to label ethnic or religious minorities and the words used to label people with Down syndrome.  As with people advocating for ethnic or religious minorities, there is a movement (led by Special Olympics)<\/a> to end the use of derogatory words such as the \u201cR\u201d word – \u2018retard.\u2019  You can join the movement or learn more by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What Words Should We Use?<\/h2>\n

Renowned educator and inclusion specialist Patti McVay emphasizes \u201cthe best name to call someone is the name he or she was born with.\u201d Many organizations, including the federal government and the National Institutes of Health, have gone back to scrub their old records of the word \u201cmentally retarded\u201d and have replaced it with \u201cintellectually and developmentally disabled,<\/strong>\u201d with the acronym of IDD. Other organizations are using cognitive disability<\/strong>, intellectual disability<\/strong>, or developmental disability<\/strong>.  Still others use the word \u201cchallenged<\/strong>\u201d instead of disability. There are subtle differences in the definitions based on each organization and even by state, but most importantly any of these terms are accepted as appropriate by the community being defined.<\/a> For the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, we like to take it a step further and talk about our community as \u201cdifferently-abled<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Words You Should NOT Use<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>Down syndrome is named after a doctor in the UK named John Langdon Down<\/a>. Originally, it was referred to as his syndrome \u2013 Down\u2019s Syndrome<\/strong>. In the UK, Europe and many other countries, the correct term still remains \u201cDown\u2019s Syndrome.\u201d In the U.S., it was changed to Down syndrome (drop the possessive) as to emphasize that it was not Dr. Down who had the syndrome nor was it his.<\/p>\n

People who are differently-abled and their families have a lot to offer society. Down syndrome is not a disease but rather a genetic condition whereby a person is born with three copies of chromosome 21 versus two. For these reasons, many, but not all families, take offense to the following terms being used in conjunction with Down syndrome:<\/p>\n

Disease <\/strong>\u2013 it is not a disease<\/p>\n

Cure<\/strong> \u2013 while the overwhelming majority of individuals with Down syndrome and their family members would want to improve the health outcomes of individuals with Down syndrome, including cognition, many families are offended by the word \u201ccure\u201d because the word is imbued with negative connotations and the word:<\/p>\n