The "R" Word

Most of you who read this know that I am a special education teacher. I also have an aunt who is very close to my heart who has Down Syndrome. This is me with Holly:

In 2008 a WONDERFUL senior honors student, Soeren Palumbo gave a speech during Writers Week at Fremd High School in Wheeling, Illinois. He has a sister with special needs and was offended when his friends used the word "retard" or "retarded" so casually.
Here is a news clip from it: (take a moment to hit "pause" on my music player to the left before viewing this clip so you can hear it properly)

After I viewed his speech for the first time, it gave me a higher awareness of the "r" word and I have vowed to remove it from my vocabulary and spread the word about how hurtful this word can truly be. Please take the time to watch this incredible speech:

I hope this will change your awareness a bit about how important these members of our society are, how we should try and watch our use of this word that is used too often flippently in our society. I hope that maybe, just maybe this post has opened your eyes a bit, I know this speech opened mine : )