Spread the Word to End the Word

What word, you may be asking?  The R-word, or as others have heard it “retarded.”  Why am I posting about this?  Well, many of you may not be aware of a book award presented by the American Library Association called the Schneider Family Book Award.  “The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences” (ala.org).

The r-word just like other offensive language should stop being used by the general public and instead use words that are politically correct and respected by the disability community.  Instead of saying the r-word, a more correct way to say it would be a person with an intellectual disability.  Always uses “people first” language, which means you should say “a person with an intellectual disability” instead of “an intellectually disabled person.”  People with disabilities do not want be defined by their disability, they want to be defined by other characteristics.

Libraries can help this cause by highlighting the books that have won the Schneider Family Book Award, or by encouraging parents that have children with disabilities to come into the library, register for programs, and use our resources.  Most library programs can be adapted for a child with a disability, it is the librarian’s job to let parents know about these options and to encourage them to use the library.

The link to the Schneider Family Book Award is: http://www.ala.org/template.cfm?template=/CFApps/awards_info/award_detail_home.cfm&FilePublishTitle=Awards,%20Grants%20and%20Scholarships&uid=A839B3A9DB37CD78

The link to the Spread the Word to End the Word website is: http://www.r-word.org/Default.aspx