Callista wrote:
Sometimes all of this IQ talk makes me wonder... Think about how you'd feel if you were ret*d and your diagnosis constantly got used as an insult, and people's response wasn't to say, "How is that supposed to be an insult?" but instead to say, "No, I'm not ret*d! My IQ is 120!" or whatever their IQ happens to be.
When you try to remove yourself from the "ret*d" category in response to having that used as an accusation or insult, you leave unaddressed the implication that "ret*d" is a bad thing to be. It's like responding to prejudice against black people by reminding others that you're not black. Even if it's true and you're as white as they come, it's still missing the point. While you as a white person wouldn't deserve that prejudice, neither does the black person who's getting targeted too. Much better to team up and work together rather than push away the categories more stigmatized than your own.
But we're not ret*d. Would a white person like being called black?
I once offended someone online when I said he looked Italian and I still don't understand why it was so offensive. Is being Italian a bad thing? Well he was an American and he looked Italian in the picture. I guess he didn't like looking like another nationality just like no one likes being mistaken for having another disability and mental retardation is one of them. Lot of us don't like to be mistaken as having that. I am sure people would get offended too if I asked them if they are autistic and they weren't.