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Retard
is most offensive word, according to 主播大秀's Disability website poll
The
for
and about disabled people's lives has run a voting poll to find
the words that are most offensive to disabled people today - and
most of the votes came from non-disabled people.
More
than 2,000
people voted, with almost 20 per cent considering retard to be the
word which would most offend disabled people.
The
top 10 "worst words" were:
Retard
(19.6 per cent of vote)
Spastic
(18%)
Window-licker
(17%)
Mong
(13.4%)
Special
(10.2%)
Brave
(7.9%)
Cripple
(5.5%)
Psycho
(2.9%)
Handicapped
(2.5%)
and
Wheelchair-bound (2%).
Three
quarters of the votes came from non-disabled people, but the words
lower down the poll had the most votes form disabled users of the
site.
Peter
White, the 主播大秀's disability Affairs Correspondent, said: "It's
interesting the extent to which some of the big differences are
shown in the words lower down the vote - the fact that window-licker,
which was third in the poll, was actually the least offensive amongst
disabled people.
"Looking
at the results, its seems that disabled people are more forgiving
if there's an element of humour to the word - whereas non-disabled
people aren't."
Bert
Massie, Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission, said: "I've
been called a few words in my time, some of them on the list.
"Sometimes
they come from ignorance, other times they're prompted by pure prejudice.
Sometimes they hurt, sometimes they make me laugh.
"Words
can help the way we view the human race.
"But
whatever words we as disabled people chose to use, we need to be
careful that we don't use words or phrases so anodyne that we hide
the reality of living in a disabling society.
"Our
words must convey a strong message."
Julie
Fernandez, disabled actress and star of The Office, commented on
the language used to describe disabled people.
"When
I think of retard I think of the film Blazing Saddles!
"Some
words I find offensive, others I use in an ironic way amongst friends;
I feel I can because I'm disabled.
"We
just don't need to be using the word cripple any more.
"Also,
when I do interviews I do so on the proviso that they do not use
words like brave or heroic because they undermine me."
Dr
Tom Shakespeare, an academic specialising in ethics and disability
issues, said: "However confident we are as disabled people,
when other people insult or patronise us it can hurt like hell.
"I'm
glad to see that non-disabled people are beginning to understand
that less offensive words - special, brave and wheelchair-bound
- are so irritating to many disabled people.
"I
think we should have disability equality classes as part of the
National Curriculum."
The
full story can be seen at .
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