In 2009, the “Spread the Word to End the Word” campaign began, when use of the R-Word (‘retard(ed)’) was incredibly frequent throughout society. The efforts substantially cut into the use of the R-Word in everyday life, but the push to see it fully eradicated from conversational norms remains an ongoing process. For context, the R-Word is the most common phrase used to demean, insult, and discriminate against people with disabilities, and it has an extremely negative effect on social and self-esteem of people it’s used against.
