My 13yo #autistic son went to Michigan’s game yesterday. His friend’s dad was a supporter of #Trump. He called #Democrats a derogatory name ending in “- TARD”. My son, being an advocate but still scared, said “I’m autistic and that word is offensive to me.” 1/
2/ “it’s offensive because of “tard”. You know that word comes from the R word, retard.” He said it in a shaky voice. The man said “oh no! I didn’t mean it THAT way. I mean like moron.” My son looked at him and said, “exactly my point.” 2/
3/ the Dad continued on and said the word with “-tard” on it one more time. In retelling the story my son said to me, “Mama, it felt so... I just told him and he did it again.” I said, “you planted a seed. You stood up for yourself. That’s all you can do.”
4/ I told him how proud I was as always. I’ve assertively asked people on both sides not to use that term. To think about the history behind it. It’s a horrendous, hateful term. It demeans an entire community and purposefully meant to.
5/ When we talk about #EqualRights in TrumpsAmerica we rarely include the SpecialNeeds community. Please. Start thinking of us.
