Letter to the Editor,
I am writing this in regards to the commentary, “Students signing petitions to end words will not evoke social change”.
First, I want to thank you for proving the Therapeutic Recreation club’s point in “spread the word to end the word” awareness day. We are trying to not simply sign a petition as you said, but to educate people such as yourself. We have found through our research that teaching people rather than just having them sign a paper is more effective. I am assuming that you have done no research as it is not mentioned in article. The second thing I would like to thank you for is showing me how much of an advocate the Therapeutic Recreation majors are. I am relatively new to this program, and because of your careless and inconsiderate words, you have brought together many people. We have had many discussions over your thoughtless commentary. I assume you have already, and will continue to get our letters to the editor, and I’m sure you will agree.
Secondly, I would like to offer some criticism. After reading this article, I suggest you consider a new major. Journalism is just not your forte. This seems as if you have written it in five minutes. You need to do more research. If you had, you would have found that the spread the word to end the word day had educated many people about why we don’t say the word. That is another thing you should have researched. We don’t say the word because of respect. It’s just simply the right thing to do. I don’t know why you don’t respect people with disabilities, but I suggest you take the Inclusive Leisure Services class to educate yourself. Finally, I would like to tell you that you have really offended a large number of this campus. I hope you know this and I think these people deserve an apology. You have ignored their feelings, thoughts, emotions, you have shown no respect for them, and I think you owe them an apology. Whether you are forced to or not, you need to write a letter to all of the students with disabilities and retract your statements made in the commentary.
Educate yourself.
Sincerely,
Kaylee Faull
Therapeutic Recreation,
Adventure Fitness
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) changed the language to “intellectual disability” in their (2013) “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder” (DSM-5). Part of the change in language is more consist with the World Health Organization’s definition. Here is a fact sheet link: http://www.dsm5.org/documents/intellectual%20disability%20fact%20sheet.pdf.
Danny Pettry, CTRS
Go you Kaylee! I’m proud to have you as a friend, a peer, and a fellow advocate!
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) changed the language to “intellectual disability” in their (2013) “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder” (DSM-5). Part of the change in language is more consist with the World Health Organization’s definition. Here is a fact sheet link: http://www.dsm5.org/documents/intellectual%20disability%20fact%20sheet.pdf.
Danny Pettry, CTRS
Go you Kaylee! I’m proud to have you as a friend, a peer, and a fellow advocate!