{"id":92315,"date":"2017-03-07T10:34:10","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T15:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?p=92315"},"modified":"2021-04-15T17:14:31","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T21:14:31","slug":"best-buddies-fight-end-r-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Buddies fight to end R-word"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Signal<\/a><\/h2>\n

By Kaitlyn Njoroge
\nCorrespondent<\/p>\n

\"r<\/a>\u201cThere\u2019s an old saying: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. \u2026 But boy, is that a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alumna Kelly Reymann (\u201903), assistant director for The Center on Sensory and Complex Disabilities and an adjunct professor of education, is one of many who disdain the r-word: retarded.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, negative words are hurtful. We\u2019re human,\u201d Reymann said.<\/p>\n

Hosted by Best Buddies, the R-Word Monologues on Thursday, March 2, provided a space for students and faculty to share how the word has personally affected them or the people they love.<\/p>\n

The sense of community could be felt around the Library Auditorium as people filled up the chairs and leaned against the walls while chatting with one another.
\nThe audience\u2019s attention was brought to the front of the room as a screen displayed the words \u201cunity,\u201d \u201cinclusion,\u201d \u201cfriendship\u201d and \u201crespect.\u201d<\/p>\n

The night began with a video \u2014 one that elicited smiles and small fits of loving laughter from the crowd. The video also explained the night\u2019s mission: to spread awareness for the r-word\u2019s impact.<\/p>\n

Shanaya Panday, co-buddy director of Best Buddies and a junior career and community studies major, understands just how much the r-word can hurt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were definitely times where I was called \u2018retarded,\u2019 but there is one story I remember that still haunts me every day,\u201d Panday said.
\nWhen she arrived to her classroom during a typical day in high school, Panday found a note on the door directing students to go to another room. Panday thought it was a better idea to stay put because no one knew which class the note was referring to.<\/p>\n

When asked by a group of boys why she was waiting in the classroom, Panday, with strength and poise, explained her logic.
\nThen, one of them turned to her and said, \u201cWell, you\u2019re retarded.\u201d<\/p>\n

With as much thought as it takes to blink or breathe, a label was bestowed upon her. It didn\u2019t matter if Panday was right or wrong, what mattered was that the student never stopped to consider how using the r-word might make her feel.<\/p>\n

Reymann believes changing this negative mindset toward people who are different begins with teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeachers are role models,\u201d Reymann said. \u201cAnd they have several little fans, like my 6-year-old son, who every year looks up to his teacher and hangs on to their every word. And guess what? All of those little fans are the future employees, colleagues and friends that will live in the same community, go to the same churches and stores as their peers with disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reymann recently shared a moment with her son that she will never forget.<\/p>\n

On a sunny autumn day, Reymann and her son took a walk. During the walk, her son told her that his class was asked to sing the alphabet to another class of differently abled individuals. He described the happiness on the kids\u2019 faces as his class sang to them.<\/p>\n

At the end of the song, his best friend turned to him and said, \u201cThose kids were so weird.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Reymann\u2019s surprise, her son\u2019s response encompassed everything she hoped he had learned throughout the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not weird, they just sound different. Different is cool,\u201d he told his friend.<\/p>\n

<\/i>Read the full story<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s an old saying: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. \u2026 But boy, is that a lie. Alumna Kelly Reymann (\u201903), assistant director for The Center on Sensory and Complex Disabilities and an adjunct professor of education, is one of many who disdain the r-word: retarded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":92316,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"news-single-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[802,676,106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bestbuddiesmonth","category-news-archive","category-spread-the-word-to-end-the-word-awareness"],"yoast_head":"\nBest Buddies fight to end R-word - Best Buddies International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Best Buddies fight to end R-word - Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There\u2019s an old saying: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. \u2026 But boy, is that a lie. Alumna Kelly Reymann (\u201903), assistant director for The Center on Sensory and Complex Disabilities and an adjunct professor of education, is one of many who disdain the r-word: retarded.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-07T15:34:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-15T21:14:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/r-word-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Best Buddies fight to end R-word\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-07T15:34:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-15T21:14:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/\"},\"wordCount\":576,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/r-word-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"#BestBuddiesMonth\",\"News Archive\",\"Spread the Word to End the Word\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/\",\"name\":\"Best Buddies fight to end R-word - Best Buddies International\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/r-word-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-07T15:34:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-15T21:14:31+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/r-word-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/r-word-1.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Best Buddies fight to end R-word\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/\",\"name\":\"Best Buddies International\",\"description\":\"Best Buddies is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Best Buddies International\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/best-buddies-logo2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/best-buddies-logo2.png\",\"width\":115,\"height\":113,\"caption\":\"Best Buddies International\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/author\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Best Buddies fight to end R-word - Best Buddies International","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Best Buddies fight to end R-word - Best Buddies International","og_description":"There\u2019s an old saying: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. \u2026 But boy, is that a lie. Alumna Kelly Reymann (\u201903), assistant director for The Center on Sensory and Complex Disabilities and an adjunct professor of education, is one of many who disdain the r-word: retarded.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/","og_site_name":"Best Buddies International","article_published_time":"2017-03-07T15:34:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-04-15T21:14:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/r-word-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Best Buddies fight to end R-word","datePublished":"2017-03-07T15:34:10+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-15T21:14:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/"},"wordCount":576,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/r-word-1.jpg","articleSection":["#BestBuddiesMonth","News Archive","Spread the Word to End the Word"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/","name":"Best Buddies fight to end R-word - Best Buddies International","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/r-word-1.jpg","datePublished":"2017-03-07T15:34:10+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-15T21:14:31+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/r-word-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/r-word-1.jpg","width":600,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2017\/03\/07\/best-buddies-fight-end-r-word\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Best Buddies fight to end R-word"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/","name":"Best Buddies International","description":"Best Buddies is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization","name":"Best Buddies International","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/best-buddies-logo2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/best-buddies-logo2.png","width":115,"height":113,"caption":"Best Buddies International"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/author\/"}]}},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2024-12-01 09:56:21","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92315"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148628,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92315\/revisions\/148628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}