I've done a lot of community service in my time, and I have attended several Special Olympics, etc etc...

The question is

Are you uncomfortable around retarded people?

Every time I do special olympics or some other type of project in which I have to work with retarded people I feel really uncomfortable around them.

And it makes me feel guilty.

How do the rest of you feel about mentally retarded people?

it depends on what way theyre retarded, i guess. eh, i dont know, and i dont really know how to put it better without sounding rude and ignorant

I love them. Nothing uncomfortable about them, they're fun to talk to.

i have a friend who loves to talk to this one retarded kids. it makes her happy. we were walking into school this moring, and we saw him, and she got all excited "is that paul??!" its kind of sad. he makes jokes and theyre so lame and unfunny that she finds it hilarious and the poor kid thinks shes serious. its kind of sad

I don't feel uncomfortable around them, infact, i like to help them. I remember in 7th grade in one of my classes, we'd go have parties with them, and talk to them since many people are rude and disrespectful towards them. Hey, it's not their fault they have a problem!

they have keys around there necks
so they can open their lockers
instead of memorizing their combo.
they are cool with me.

i like 'em, they are really cool people, i'm comfortable around them... =o)

i dont feel uncomfortable around them, theyre really nice if you're kind to them

hahah yeah im uncomfortable around them. like my friend use to harrass me about it but i just am! you never know if they are going to stick a booger on you or some thing :l. i dont think its funny it just annoys me!

It doesnt bother me when im around them..i just feel kinda sorry for them =[

I'm kinda uncomfortable around them, especially this one kid at my school Bobby. He looks like he should be out of school, but yea, anway, that's not why I feel uncomfortable. It's because alot of the mentally handicapped kids at my school are mean because they're afraid to open up to "normal" kids. I tried being ncie to Bobby once, but he started screaming at me and ran away. And then told the teachers I was harassing him. But I gave him a Christmas Present and he just smiled, took the present, and walked away. So yea.

i think i am comfortable around them. when i am around them, i seem to act pretty normal. but i know that they have special needs and i try to watch out for them. but i am not really around retarted people that much anyway.

Definetely uncomfortable because some of them has ill diseases that cannot be cured eventually, but some of them act like 7-years old and they know nothing seriously..

theres a few here at my school so i'm cool with it. besides...i'm pretty comfortable around most people so yeh.

i feel so horrible cause im honestly not. its not that i discriminate, its that i dont understand it and i dont know how to handle them because i know that we should treat them the same, but there is a lot of stuff out there to make you think about how hard "the same" could be

Yeah, I feel uncomfortable around them. I'm guilty, too.

But there is a kid that I know that is special needs. And also a kid on my bus. He's alright, thought.

My mom's friend's husband... he works as a special needs instructor and one of the kids threw a chair at him! And he broke his arm or something. So they might sue them, but they probably don't have a lot of money.

Anyways, I can't believe how immature so poeple are to the special needs kids. A couple of these 7th graders were making fun of the kid on our bus! It was so mean! And they were like, taunting him!

I got a typo on you!

It's "their!"



Not to get off topic..

I've tutored and hung out with a lot of mentally inadequate people throughout high school and still some now. At the beginning it was rather uncomfortable because I had this bias that there was this communication/understanding barrier, but I have gotten used to it. I guess you just need to view them as really normal people. During my freshmen year at Irvine when I worked in the labs, I got stalked by this girl that was a little slow... (noticeable slow). It was rather uncomfortable when she started following me, buying me lunch, etc.. and I couldn't even communicate much with her. Don't get me wrong, she looked like any normal person (kinda cute too), but she couldn't understand half the things I said. After awhile I got used to it and it wasn't a problem talking (sorta), but then she suddenly stop coming to school one day ... kinda miss her now...

depends on the type. my cousin has a "mental disability" but he isnt like...stupid. learns slowly. but he's nothing to be scared of...but then..yes i do feel uncomfortable around others.

I haven't come into contact with many mentally retarded people before, so I feel uncomfortable around them.
Eh. I have nothing against them, I just get all weird.. I get like that when I'm around old people, too.

I realize it's not their fault, and I have nothing against them.. I just kind of get all weirded out when I'm around them, yah know?

yeah sorta. Like when they make weird noises it freaks me out. But i always make sure that I dont ACT like im uncomfortable because I respect them and wuoldnt want them to feel any more of a minority.

=( i feel bad for no reason and i think im uncomfortable.
its mean when people make fun of them just because they have mental disorders.

I sympathize for them. My oldest brother, on his 24th birthday, was hit by a car and left permanently disabled. We have to take care of him, like a baby--feed him, change him, etc. Well, he's not "retarded" really. He just can't walk, move much, or even talk.

The thing about him, and other disabled and "retarded" perople is this: they're people as well. When I was younger, I wasn't well aware of this concept, but now looking at my brother, it's something i've come to realize.

Just be grateful for what you have, and for what you don't have.

i'm slightly uncomfortable. it's because i depend upon reason, logic, and communication for security. eh, i probably sound like a horribly intolerant person ><

i dont make fun of retarded people, but yeah i sorta get nervous when im around them. i mean, who knows what they might do to you. they are "retarded". most of the "retarded" people walk around with food and throwing it at people at stuff, and teachers dont do shit, cuz they say oh let them be.