Thirtieth Anniversary Issue on Progress and Priorities in Direct Support

Words. Words matter. The language used in early publications 30 years ago has evolved over time. Today’s recent articles will not include a reference to the R-Word. For the most part, articles are written in person-first language. The articles are also more accessible in plain language, use currently accepted terms, are culturally sensitive, and respectful. While this may seem like a simple thing to most readers, it has come about because of hard work and conflict resolution within our own community. There’s been education about the harm and hurtful nature of some words and their strength in suppressing the presence and power of people with developmental disabilities.

Tony Anderson

Here’s a short outline of some of the highlights of this journey during the lifetime of Frontline Initiative, and where we are today:

2005: The Alliance for Full Participation – While attending this national forum of thousands of people in the intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) community, I was struck that self-advocates were the only ones who called out the elimination of the use of the R-word as a top priority.

2007: The American Association on Mental Retardation finally changed its name to “The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.” In 1992: The Arc changed its name from The Association for Retarded Citizens of the United States to “The Arc” in response to repeated protests from self-advocates and allies from across the country within its own membership and beyond.

2008: Tropic Thunder – The Arc, the National Association of People with Disabilities, Special Olympics, and many others participated in a national boycott of the movie Tropic Thunder because of its offensive portrayal of people with IDD in the movie and promotional materials. During the national boycott, Walmart (who also distributed the Tropic Thunder DVD) played a video in their stores nationwide expressing “Respect” as the new word and portraying people with IDD as respected members of society.

2009: The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama. The Act expanded hate crimes law to include “disability” as a protected category.

2009: The Arc of the United States, Special Olympics, and Best Buddies International launched the "Spread the Word to End the Word" campaign.

2010: Rosa’s Law removed reference to people with IDD as “retarded” in national statutes.

2008-2013: By 2013, almost all states had removed the word “retarded” and replaced it with “intellectual disability” in state laws.

January 2026: Yet, the R-word is making a resurgence in society today. Recent reporting shows prominent, highvisibility uses of the R-word by public figures to renormalize the slur in some circles. These public figures and celebrities include Kanye West, Kid Rock, Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk, and political leaders like U.S. President Donald J. Trump, and even administration officials like Harmeet K. Dhillon. Dhillon is the assistant attorney general charged with protecting the rights of people with intellectual disabilities by ensuring compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Joe Rogan described the return of the R word as, “one of the great culture victories.”

The lesson for us all is that even though we’ve made meaningful progress within the disability community to educate about misusing words that harm and isolate people, there is still much work to do throughout society to wipe out hate speech aimed at people with IDD.