Nation Ford High wants to stamp out ‘R-word’

Hundreds of Nation Ford High School students recently pledged their support to “End the R-Word” as part of the school’s fifth annual campaign to do away with the derogatory slang term sometimes used to describe people with disabilities.

The campaign was part of a national grass roots effort launched seven years ago to “Spread the Word to End the Word,” the word being “retarded” or “retard.”

Special needs teacher and Club UNIFY advisor Vicki Ball said she was hoping this year to have a slightly different campaign, to advocate for other areas of awareness within the special needs community, such as inclusion.

“I thought we were past using the R-word,” Ball said.

But then Ball heard a student in the hallway use the word and realized there was more work to be done.

“There’s different levels of awareness,” Ball said. “It’s a civil rights issue.”

Three members of NaFo’s Club UNIFY, a group dedicated to the inclusion of people with disabilities, spoke at a school assembly and also at the annual End the R-Word Statehouse rally in Columbia.

“It is way past time for us to stop using the R-word,” sophomore Isabella Heusing told a room full of peers.

“Everyone is different so why are individuals with disabilities excluded just because they are different, you are too. Instead of leaving them out, we need to embrace their differences. There are activities all students should be able to participate in without being discriminated against. This is unacceptable.”

Ball teaches a “transition” class at NaFo, a class for students with special needs ages 18-21. Students participate in activities and instruction designed to prepare them to live as independently as possible. Some will go on to attend Think College programs at one of five universities in the state, or elsewhere.

As part of the transition program, students volunteer while learning life and employment skills at area businesses such as Publix, Mellow Mushroom and Hampton Inn.

Ball said she often comes up against resistance when approaching members of management at many businesses about volunteer work for her students, “because they don’t understand individuals with disabilities.”

“A lot of times people look at the disability and not the ability of the individual,” she said.

David Newman, 19, has autism spectrum disorder and spoke at the assembly and the rally. Newman plays on a UNIFY basketball team at NaFo, a team made up of Special Olympics athletes and their non-disabled peers.

“UNIFY sports in our community is really good,” he said. “ I have played UNIFY sports for four years. I have made many friends. My name is David and I stand for respect.”

Sabah Bhamani, a junior, spoke of her impressions playing UNIFY sports with Newman.

“When David and I are playing basketball after school together, the only difference between us is probably that I’m an entire foot shorter than him, but we’re both playing to have fun and that’s all that really matters,” Bhamani said at the assembly.

“It’s experiences like this that help me understand that these students with disabilities have every right to be as involved in school activities as we do because a person should not be judged by their differences but by their individual capabilities.”

Bhamani said the use of the R-word perpetuates stereotypes and doesn’t give credit to people like Newman who have abilities that would make some non-disabled people jealous.

“If you tell David your birthday, he can tell you exactly what weekday it’s going to be on even seven years from now,” Bhamani said. “If that’s ‘below average,’ I don’t know what average is, because every time he does it, it blows my mind.”

This story was originally published April 1, 2016 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Nation Ford High wants to stamp out ‘R-word’."