Posted on 05/22/2012 9:07:52 AM PDT by shove_it
A Texas high school has recalled its yearbooks after special needs students were described as "mentally retarded" within its pages, angering teachers, students and their parents.
Mesquite High School's yearbooks were initially distributed on Friday, but were recalled by school officials within hours.
"They told the entire class that they have a slight mistake that needs to be fixed," a senior at the school told Fox's KDFW affiliate.
An introduction to the "Special Education" section read, "Some of the disabilities the students in the Special Education Program have are being blind, deaf or non-verbal" and described two students as "both blind and deaf, as well as mentally retarded."
[...]
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Think about it, what could they possibly learn? How much should your neighbors have to pay in taxes for that?
It is hard trying to always be politically correct. I can never figure out why “colored people” is not politically correct but “people of color” is. Is “people of retarded” politically correct?
Short Bus Riders?
*duck*
I have a slow hearing disorder. When someone screams at me it takes me five times as long to understand what is being said as someone speaking normally, at normal speed. It’s better to have warning signs that you can read at your own speed. Fer instance, if that were me who was getting bombasted by the teacher, she would have to write on the blackboard, ‘You gonna get your ass arrested for dis’n the president of the United States.’ I would allow all capitol letters though. That way I would know she was screaming. And it would give her something to do with her hands instead of tearing out her hair and choking herself, indicating what she wanted to do to me.
As a matter of fact she founded a Christian School for Downs children and continues to teach there today.
The yearbook staff could have more carefully chosen their words but the term mentally retarded isn't offensive, it is definitive.
“It’s become a pejorative term, but I remember a time when no stigma was attached and no such label was intended as anything but explanatory and descriptive”
Whatever you call the mentally retareded will inevitably be pejorative, since it’ll never be a good thing to be retarded. That won’t stop PC cops from turning over acceptable language every few years, so as to do what political correctness was invented to do: enrich the policians and rent seekers who patronize various PC-protected identity groups.
One day it’s okay to call black people negroes/colored/black, the next day sinful to say anything but “African-American.” One moment everyone calls retards “retarded,” and suddenly those who don’t change within the minute to “mentally challenged” hate retarded people and can be demogogued against at liberty. You don’t see anything wrong with “midget” and use the word without second thought, then are confused and embarrassed when someone yells at you for such insensitivity as not to use the for no reason whatsoever purportedly better term “little person.”
Control the language, control thought.
“I can never figure out why ‘colored people’ is not politically correct but ‘people of color’ is.”
No reason whatsoever, except that “colored” was popular in the past, while “person of color” is more recent. Though at the time used by the well-meaning (also the condescending and pandering, but that’s no different today for any PC-approved terms), “colored” nonetheless had to become unacceptable. First because racists used it, too. More importantly because PC language must change or die.
Someone might tell you “person of color” is better than “colored person” because the former puts the person first, or somesuch nonsense. Don’t listen. “Colored” is wrong for the same reason “African-American” is better than “black,” however tenaciously black clings to life: so that you can use it as a weapon against people who still say it.
What a mighty political tool it would be for us conservatives if suddenly comfotable liberal language mutated into no-no naughty words. For instance, if Obama’s beloved “fairness” sounded to Jane American Idol like “communism.” Oh, the fun we’d have.
So do you call your nephew “furniture”?
It is niggardly not to use the clinically accurate, descriptive term “retarded”.
“What a mighty political tool it would be for us conservatives if suddenly comfotable liberal language mutated into no-no naughty words. For instance, if Obama’s beloved ‘fairness’ sounded to Jane American Idol like ‘communism.’ Oh, the fun we’d have.”
By the way, this has already happened, with less guile than for liberals, as they have more practice. Somewhat recently liberals were asking, “Since when did it become such a bad thing to be liberal?” This was around when the public started associating liberalism with what it actually is: a bad thing. You remember, back when Clinton was talking about the era of Big Government being over.
Well, the lady Clinton and others like her insisted on being called “progressive.” This was presumably partly because of liberalism’s bad name, partly because of their awareness of the paternity of their ideology in the pregressive era. Eventually progressive became a bad word, too, again because it was associated with progressive policies.
That would be pretty much impossible if he were also deaf and blind.
Same issue with “queer”. It means odd or different, or out of line. What else describes sexual attraction of a type which cannot ever naturally produce offspring?
My grandson born with spina bifida has a lot of side effects, but retardation isn’t one of them. He first moved his left leg at 18 mo., and his right at two. Last week, nearly four, he stood up by himself for the first time, then climbed the stairway on his hands and knees for the first time.
He attends a developmental preschool which sends a short bus out to take him to school each day. In a year or two he will take the short bus to public school. Every minute of his life has been a struggle, yet he continues to conquer obstacles. His sweet nature and sense of humor will help him overcome the taunts and bullying that inevitably will come his way. Meanwhile, the other kids on the short bus treat him as a friend.
You invited my response, and I thank you for the chance to share a bit about our “new normal”.
Few are truly ‘black’ and almost none of them have ever been to Africa, much less being born there.
I am very sorry.
So what? Those are human beings, not “furniture”.
“I’m sorta torn on this one. ‘Mentally challenged’ is a little better than ‘mentally retarded’, which is close to calling them ‘retards’. But the PC bell has been rung and it’s too late to unring it IMO.”
While I am not a PC person, there was no need to single out these innocent children because of their unfortunate disabilities.
Very poor taste indeed and gawd-awful.
There was no excuse and or need for that.
Terrible indeed.
What is the purpose of having them in school?
I would assume it was for them to learn. Helen Keller was deaf and blind, and graduated from Radcliffe. You don’t know anything about these kids, except some yearbook blurb, and you’re writing them off.
It’s a disgusting attitude.
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