retarded people, ...the real kind Options

[madpimp]

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?

[*tweeak*]

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

[*Podomaht*]

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

[*tweeak*]

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

[Nicolatofu]

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!

[Flaunted]

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

[captured_serenit...]

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

[redderstarr]

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

[Heathasm]

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!

[StarryEyedSurpri...]

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

[SystemDamaged]

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.

[heyyfrankie]

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.

[*Statistik*]

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..

[*stephinika*]

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

[delightfullyinsa...]

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

[jennyjenny]

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!

[*Podomaht*]

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

I got a typo on you!

It's "their!"



Not to get off topic..

[Lonely0nE]

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...

[iheartsimba]

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.

[inthemudhole]

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?

[*xcaitlinx*]

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.

[weirdness]

=( 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.

[*AngelicEyz00*]

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.

[innovation]

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 ><

[Tung]

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.

[teeners4]

i used to feel uncomfortable around them. but luckily, my high school supports these people, and we have many of them, well compared to other schools in my city. and i like talking to them, because they really make you see things that you shoudl be grateful for everyday. sometimes i envy them, because they are so much more positive than me, and always so happy and doesnt treat people differently depending on their social status

[*salcha*]

im not really uncomfortable aorund them, just kinda sorry.

for first period PE, the special ed kids would always come late and stuff...
so one of the guys who's in special ed knew my PE teacher, and after they would high-five or whatever, he would have random fits kinda. like, he would just suddenly drop his backpack and start doing jerky karate movements and stuff.

and i guess our class isnt really uncomfortable. we cheered him on while he did flips on the ground haha.

[tooeffingcrazy]

Omg. I seriously have like this phobia around retarded people. It's sad, i don't want to be scared of them, but i just am. -.-

[Shattered_Hope]

I dont mind them at all. They seem nice.

[Gypsy Eyes]

I am perfectly comfortable around people who are 'retarded'. My aunt, as well as 3 of my cousins are considered retarded, so i am used to it.

[juliar]

i feel really bad for them, because it's like they have some kind of stigma. i think thats the word.

but i'm still a little uncomfortable around them.

[pbear]

yeah, i am uncomfortable around mentally retarded people.
i haven't known any very well, and i guess i'm just not sure how to...act?
er, just a little awkward, i guess.

[Levy2k6]

im patient with retarded people.. what really irritates me is when people mess with them on purpose, c'mon.. how would u feel if someone did the same thing to you? its just not right to mess with them.

[HelloSunshine]

Sweetie we don't call them "retarded" anymore, it's Mentally Challenged now. *ahem* but anyhoo I'm not sure since I haven't been around any. Sure, I might feel a bit uncomfortable, but they're people just like you and me.

[xXblondeTENISXx]

my mom worked with "retarded" people and its really rude to call them retards b/c i ould call u a retard and it have a whole neither meaning.. im sorry it just bugs me when people call them retards.. i have a kid in my class that is in a sense retards... but they have names and if not call them something nicer plllz

[sweetdreamsx3]

I'm not going to lie and say I'm completely comfortable with them, but they do make me a bit uneasy... =\

[mizz_mithy]

this girl who's retarted sits with my me and friends at lunch cause the dean mad us after my friend said something mean about her. anyway at first i was really unconfortable but now i'm used to her. she's really nice. i feel sorry for her though cause all these people make fun of her and she gets so mad.

[lisaaaaaaa]

i don't like calling them retarded...i just feel sorry for them. i don't feel uncomfortable. kind of. eh.

[laur3nw]

No...they're actually really nice people who want to be friends with you. There was this poll made for the school newspaper and the question was 'If you were put into their shoes for a day how would you feel?' Some of those disabled students were interviewed and they said it would be easier for them to make friends if they were normal...

[JlIaTMK]

Eh, well, in our school district, we have all of the mentally disabled kids. The other high school doesnt have them. However, I dont see anything wrong with them. I see them trying to fit in as hard as they want with other kids and I see that thats what they need. To be treated the same.

However, there is this one kid, that really.... scared me once. He acts like a dinosaur (specifically, a t-rex) and he goes around in line, mimicing kids and biting them, yes my friends been bitten by him. He mimiced me once in the lunch line. lmao, i must say, i was entertained by how he acted like me.

[HelloSunshine]

my mom worked with "retarded" people and its really rude to call them retards b/c i ould call u a retard and it have a whole neither meaning.. im sorry it just bugs me when people call them retards.. i have a kid in my class that is in a sense retards... but they have names and if not call them something nicer plllz

yeah agreed. the word "retard" for Mentally Challenged bugs me.

[*wind&fire*]

its a feeling of fear/pity/sorrow...

[demolished]

i feel uncomfortable with real retarted people, it make me feel like an outcast and stupid. they ask the same old questions and i'm repeating it w/ different answer cuz i thought that person didnt know what i'm talking about.


i have a question, how can people be mentally retarted ?

[madpimp]

yeah agreed. the word "retard" for Mentally Challenged bugs me. 

I say retarded because I mean retarded.

Mentally Challenged can mean anything from Dyslexia to Autism.

I'm not uncomfortable around dyslexic or autistic people.

I am uncomfortable around mentally retarded people.

Mostly because they are too affectionate, and I hate being touched.

[*jooleeah*]

I'll tell you the truth, I am a little uncomfortable around them...it just makes me nervous that i might say the wrong thing. But they are really nice people, and plus, they're just like people who aren't retarded.

[xsweetxcandyx]

i've actually never met anybody who was retarded.. i might feel strange at first.. but i would get used to it

[*Solipsist*]

I'm okay with them.
I mean, I've never really interacted with one, I've just seen the special ed class from afar. So I can't really tell how they're like.
I'd rather have a normal child though.

- Solipsist

[xj_liana_tx]

i try to act comfortable around them but i am really not, i feel really bad for them and i always pray for them when they are around

[ghjgfkgfk]

I'd rather have a normal child though.

- Solipsist

any reason why?

[sunissed14127]

no.. i like disabled people.

[katssso]

Sometimes when I'm around them, i feel as if I can't act myself, but some days there just like regular people.

[lilJdawg]

Sometimes, i feel uncomfortable. but other times, i'm okay. I guess it just depends on the person & what they have. It's nice that your helping them. (:

[emmalie]

im kinda uncomfortable..because I always think their gonna pull my hair*freak accident once* and when I see them I feel really bad ...so I dont think I would be good to have around ill probaly make them squirmy.

[lovescream]

Makes me feel sorried for them.

[KelseyNicole]

There's one in my art class, she is actually very smart at problem-solving type stuff. And if you give her something to draw, she'll draw it EXACTLY as is, it's creepy. And if you ask her to name the united states, she'll name them ALL in ABC order. But she has some sort of disability, and she has a mentor and you know.. your average.. retard. I'm pretty comfortable around her, and I play play-doh with her sometimes, and she likes to show me her art work. The other day she gave me the nickname "Mrs. Hamster".

[a smile is power]

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.

Um, did I miss something? A special needs instructor gets his arm broken and he might sue the retarded guy? I thought if you get a job you take the risks...

But anyway. I'm not uncomfortable around them. I don't really know any, but I swim laps at a YMCA...and sometimes they have a swimming class for ppl like that...they don't bother me though, even though they do stare sometimes - it's not a creepy stare, more like a little kid's stare. it's not their fault they're like that.

[sporadic]

I kind of am, but not like I would turn red and start shuffling around uncomfortably if I were in a room with some one who's "retarded".

[angel-roh]

Yes, they are okay. I'm not uncomfortable. I'm okay with it.