A six-letter-word one Ohio family is calling “hurtful” was spray-painted across Jayden Clark’s home this week. In bright red paint, the family says they were shocked to find the word “retard” on their garage door.
Jayden has muscular dystrophy — a condition that progressively weakens the muscles — and needs a wheelchair to get around.
“He’s a smart boy and has no problem understanding anything. He knows what (that word) means and he knows how mean it is,” his father, Steve Clark told WTSP, a CBS affiliate.
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The Clark family says they want to raise awareness about why we shouldn’t be using of the “R word.”
READ MORE: Mom defends calling her son with Down Syndrome a ‘retard’
Steve says as hurtful as it is to see someone target his son, he hopes that this is a chance to educate others about disabilities and the power of a word.
The family has joined the fight with Special Olympics and Best Buddies International, to end the use of the “R word” with the campaign “Spread the Word to End the Word.”
“The ‘R word’ is so hurtful. It’s degrading. It’s diminishing. It takes away people’s hopes and dreams and is just really unacceptable,” Vallye Adams of Best Buddies Florida, told WTSP.
Adams told the TV station that despite anyone’s disability, the word should never be a part of anybody’s vocabulary. They hope others will politely correct anyone who uses the word.
Ohio police are investigating the spray-painting incident.
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