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MRDD erases ‘R Word’ from official title

Governor signs bill making it the Board of Developmental Disabilities.

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By Josh Sweigart, Staff Writer Updated 1:12 AM Thursday, July 9, 2009

James Henrie was infuriated, but he kept his cool at his first Bengals game last year when a couple of college kids hurled the “R” word at him.

He just laughed and told himself, “You don’t know the half of the things I’m a part of, so don’t call me retarded,” he said.

Henrie has cerebral palsy. He also has a full-time job at the Butler County Clerk of Court’s Office, and a side business as a graphic designer and Web site developer.

Henrie was overjoyed when state lawmakers agreed with what he and others have said for years: The “R” word long ago became not just a medical term but also an insult, and has no place in government.

Gov. Ted Strickland signed a bill into law Tuesday, July 7, to remove the word from state and local boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

“I’m really happy that they’re finally changing the name,” Henrie said. “We do a lot to show people we’re not retarded. We’re capable of doing anything anyone else is doing.”

Butler County MRDD will become the county’s Board of Developmental Disabilities when the law goes into effect in October. But local advocates can’t wait.

Agency spokeswoman Wendy Planicka said they plan at the Butler County Fair to distribute pencils and erasers with the phrase, “Erase the R Word.” The goal, she said, is to let people know it’s not OK to casually call someone retarded.

It never really made sense in the agency’s name anyway, she said.

“Mental retardation is a developmental disability, so to have both in our name is redundant,” she said.

Henrie is a member of Empowered People Reaching Out, a group of local MRDD self-advocates. A video the group created to talk about the impact that one word can have is available on the agency’s Web site.

“I was teased when I was in high school. ‘Hey retarded boy come here. Hey stupid come here. Idiot come here.’ So it holds a lot — I’d love to see it come out of that,” Michael Cox told the camera.

“We are human beings. We’re not stupid. We’re not retarded. And people need to understand that we have feelings,” Cox said.

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