Rectifying Foundations of Respect: A Guest Submission from Austin Rector of Special Olympics Arizona
Being a part of Special Olympics has been a life changing experience for me. I am excited to share my story on such an important day, Spread the Word to End the Word day! I am currently working on earning my Physical Therapy degree, and I have two amazing jobs; I work for the City of Chandler’s Therapeutic Recreation department coaching several Special Olympics sports, and I am a Personal Trainer.
I believe everyone is more alike than different, and try my best to ensure others are aware of that too. Every single person is capable of WAY more then they even realize, and I am glad I have so many opportunities to show people this! Let me tell you a little bit about how I got involved…
I guess you could say I have a passion for people. This goes back to grade school, when I was overweight and had some speech issues. I was often bullied by other students because I was a little different…I spoke differently and I was overweight. I eventually received speech therapy and during that time I was in a classroom with others who needed speech therapy as well. I realized some of the students were in Special Education classes, and I didn’t understand why we went to different areas of the school after speech. I also found out that others in the room were bullied just like me; picked on because we were different — recess was the worst. So, I would spend my recess time in the Special Education classes room so I could hang out with my new friends. During that time I met one of my best friends, Connor, and I’m happy to say thirteen years later we still hang out and play Unified Sports together.
As the years went on, my words came out more clearly, and my height caught up with my weight, and I was no longer bullied. But, many of my friends were still being bullied. So I take every opportunity I get to spread awareness for all people to be treated with the kindness and respect they deserve. I never forgot what it was like to be bullied, and I never forgot my true friends from the Special Education department. It was the friends I met during this difficult time in my life that helped me realize my self worth. This is why I have made it my personal goal to give others the opportunity to realize their self-worth and to emerge triumphant from a difficult starting point. I can’t think of a more deserving community of people, than our Special Olympics athletes, to advocate for and be seen as important and equal members of society. Too often society passes judgment on people because of the way they look or talk, and too often people don’t give others an opportunity because they are a little different. I believe if given the chance, people would realize we are all more alike than different. We all want and deserve to be treated with kindness and respect, an opportunity to live up to our full potential as individuals, and to be treated as important members of society.
The best part about being involved with Special Olympics is the friendships I’ve made. As a freshman I got involved with Best Buddies, the Special Olympics program Unified Sports. As a sophomore, I gave up my spots on the high school varsity swim team and club basketball to be a partner on the Unified track, basketball, and flag football teams. When I started Unified Sports, I met my other best friend, Kevin. Kevin and I had similar stories of being bullied in grade school, and we immediately had a connection. We have had the opportunity to spread awareness about equal treatment for all people, we’ve played numerous sports together, and we enjoy hanging out.
It is devastating to think there are people in society that still think it’s okay to call my friends retarded, or to refer to something being silly or stupid as retarded. The R-word is extremely offensive and demeaning, even if you “don’t mean it in a negative way.” Bare with me, this next sentence will be offensive. I ask that you hear me out and give me an opportunity to make my point. Cracker, faggot, spick, homo, bible thumper….can you believe that at some point in life all of these derogatory words were acceptable and openly used?! It’s flat out offensive! When you hear/see those words, many of you most likely feel uncomfortable; I felt extremely uncomfortable typing them. Do you believe when some people hear someone say “isn’t that retarded”, some people probably don’t think it’s that big of a deal compared to the other words above? The definition of derogatory is, “Tending to lesson the merit or reputation of a person or thing.” All of the words I said are considered derogatory, including the word retard(ed).
Words are hurtful and using derogatory words to explain a person or a thing is bullying. I have had the opportunity to hear many people discuss how the R-word makes them feel stupid, worthless, and unequal. It is my goal that the word retarded becomes just as unacceptable as the other derogatory words I mentioned above. Words do hurt, and history has taught us that certain words just aren’t acceptable, yet people still use the word retarded in every day conversations.
Can you imagine what our society would be like if we focused on the positives in others instead of focusing on the negatives? What if people decided to give compliments, instead of putting others down for their differences? What if each one of us reading this post pledged to treat others with kindness and respect no matter what? Can you imagine how much better we would not only make others feel, but how much better we would feel about ourselves as well! I’m not saying we need to like everyone we meet, but I do think in offering respect to the people we meet, we will in turn get the respect we think we deserve.
I am asking you to replace anger and hate with kindness, and to treat others the way you want to be treated. Stick up not only for yourselves, but for others as well.
I remember learning something in kindergarten that I feel may actually be one of life’s greatest lessons. If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all. Pledge to be accepting. Pledge to be tolerant. Pledge to think before you speak. Pledge to Spread the Word to End the Word!
In kindness,
Austin Rector
If you have a story, video, photo, poem, essay, guide, dance, (or anything else) to share with the world, follow the three easy steps in this link or publish your story on Medium and email it to spalumbo@specialolympics.org. If you prefer, you could also put your story into a word document, let us know whether you would like it published under your name or anonymously, and email it to spalumbo@specialolympics.org.
Pledge your support to end the R-Word here.
