Let's all mock the disabled

Professor Moriarty wrote: »

If a person with cerebral palsy behaved badly or missed an open goal, would you call them a spa? If not, why not?

Bit of a difference between a professional footballer missing a sitter then a handicapped kid , like lets be honest here.

One's in a competitive environment and is expected to bury it , the other not so much. I wouldn't react negatively toword's anyone shouting words like spa or retad at a professional player at a game or at a TV in the pub watching a match. I would have a pretty negative reaction to someone shouting similar at an evidently handicapped person in the street. Sticking with the sport analogy should sports fans also avoid calling the referee blind in case it offends any visually impaired people in ear shot ??? were do you draw the line?

Context is definitely key here.

Omackeral wrote: »

In fairness, the OP has worked with people who have disabilities and is probably sick of hearing the word as it resonates with him on a personal level and he takes it a lot more persoanlly than you or I might. I can see his POV. However, OP should also realise that the vast majority of folks using the word spa etc aren't doing it to demean people with disabilities.

Fair enough I see both points.

The fundamental issue here is context people seem to be offended by everything at the minute , the reality is unless you are using those terms in a derogatory manor towords someone with an actual disability, then for the most part its ok.

Omackeral wrote: »

If I'd call him a dope I'd call him a spa. They're synonymous in my book.

You would call a person with cerebral palsy a spa if you thought they deserved it. Ok.

I'm buying you a packet of multiquotes for Christmas Kal El!

Skyfarm wrote: »

as a disabled person ,I'm not quite sure which of the above names i would apply to the downright ignorant responses to disability on this thread, the "I'm helping" disabled by name calling out other people really piss me off.. as for the "I'm smarter" than ye all type of person  by referencing some obscure 70s/80s tv/mental disability term to get your point across is still as every bit as hurtful now as then ..


Someday some company will refuse to associate their brand with the behaviour of boards when it comes to disability ,race ,lets hope the refusal of add funding will impose stricter regulation of hate/disability crimes on boards

This is a really interesting angle. There is a 'Stop Funding Hate' campaign very active in the UK at the moment. It is challenging those large corporate businesses like Tesco who advertising in rags like Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph that have spent years stirring up hate on grounds of race and religion.

I wonder if something could be done here. It is very, very unusual that boards.ie bans words like n-i-g-g-e-r, p-a-k-i, f-a-g-g-o-t and p-i-k-e-y, but doesn't ban 'retard' when used as a derogatory term. I'd challenge those who respond with the 'no harm meant' response if they would like works like those above in polite company - at a work discussion with your boss present, or at a family discussion with your elderly aunt present?

This is not a 'free speech' issue. Anyone can use whatever terms they like. This is simply a basic standard for a site like boards.ie, which has well-established principles of banning some terms for certain reasons - but deliberately chooses not to protect people with intellectual disabilities in the same way that they protect people of other races, ethnicities or sexual preferences.