Retarded Grandparents
 

RETARDED GRANDPARENTS--- (this was actually reported by a teacher)

After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils to write an essay on how they spent their holiday away from school. One child wrote the following:

We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa.

They used to live in a big brick house but Grandpa got retarded and they moved
to Batemans Bay where everyone lives in nice little houses, and so they don't
have to mow the grass anymore!

They ride around on their bicycles and scooters and wear name tags because they don't know who they are anymore.

They go to a building called a wreck center, but they must have got it fixed
because it is all okay now. They do exercises there, but they don't do them very
well.

There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on.

At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He
watches all day so nobody can escape. Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts!

Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And, they eat the same thing every night
--- early birds.

Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who
do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck.

My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too.

When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will
let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.

PRICELESS! Remember to send this to all your "retarded grandparent" friends and give them a laugh too!!

Very cute!!!!

Good one!!!

OMG, I had to send that to everyone I know!

oh so cute love it.

So cute--love it lots. Thanks

Awe, too funny!

Cute!! Thanks for the laugh!!!!!

I just sent this to so many friends. Is this what we're all striving for?

I work at a medical clinic and saw this once on a history sheet completed by an elderly man.

Under occupation, he had written "retard". When I saw that, my first thought was "Awww, poor guy!" But then I stopped to think about where I live......Texas......and had to laugh. What he meant was not "RE-tard", but "re-TARD" (that's retired, for all you non-Texans).

Too cute!! :)

I guess I'm the only one on this thread that doesn't think this is at all funny. I'm the mom to a child who has special needs. I can tell you first hand that there is nothing funny about it. What exactly is it about this story that makes anyone want to share it? The fact that a kid mixed up the word retired with retarded? It's so unbelievable that people are laughing away and sharing this, while vulnerable people are asking you to stop using a word that hurts them. Don't any of you have the courage to speak out? Just seems really wrong and I'm surprised to see it here of all places.

I am a mother to a special needs child also and at first I didn't like it, but after finding out that Texans can't say the right word then I sort of understood it. ("Out of the mouths of babes,")

I love this. Kids are so funny. A friend of mine (also my hairdresser) has a little girl who is in 1st grade and has trouble pronouncing some of her words. While getting my hair cut a few weeks ago (her shop is in her home) the little girl came out to the shop and ask what was for supper. When her mommy told her it saurkraut/hot dogs, she said "I love love sour crotch". I tried not to laugh but she is simply too cute!

I'm not sure what to post. I didn't find the original post very funny but just chalked it up to a difference of opinion. I worked with special needs children and adults for many years and consider it a privilege to have done this.

Children do say very funny things and I will never forget some of the things my own children said when they were little. Still, I knew that someone would be hurt by the original post and I sincerely hope that no one is hurt by my feeling that the post was not funny. There is just no way that everyone will agree with either side.

What I did find funny is that SueDor states that she found out that Texans can't say the right word.

Now that made me laugh y'all!

Thanks for the laugh. :D

did you know that using the R word is very hurtful to people and the families of developmentally delayed family members. I'm sure you did not know that there is a nationwide move to stamp out the R word. I would urge you to rethink before sending it out again as I'm sure you would not want to offend or hurt anyone.

Not to put a damper on this thread, but this is not a "child's" original story. It was printed in a newspaper about 10 years ago and was written by an adult. At first read (years ago) I thought it was cute, but sorry, it really isn't. JMO

Exactly. And as the father of an autistic-spectrum son, now 44 yrs old, I read this so-called "cute" story and was immediately thrown back to all the times he was taunted, bullied and beaten by other kids and even so-called adults, who were taught by stupid adults that so-called "retarded" kids were fair game for that kind of treatment. Words hurt, people, and sometimes they kill...

Anyone who uses the words "retard" or "retarded" to refer to any person is either uneducated, unfeeling and/or unthinking. Sorry, that's the way I feel about it...

If memory serves me right, back in the olden days when a child was slow to learn, they were tested and a diagnosis of "retarded" was rendered by all the professionals and teachers. Then we became "politically correct" and had to invent new words to replace retarded.
It's terribly sad that some of you took this joke personally....It's obvious it wasn't meant to be. I, too, am offended by the use of that word in a derogatory manner but this was not used that way.
I'd like to recommend the book "Michael Vey" by Richard Paul Evans. He wrote it for his son who has tourettes and was being bullied at school....your children will love it. The sequeal comes out in August. I can't wait.

Sorry, I have to disagree. At least since the late 60's, the use of the term "retarded" has been frowned-upon by most educated people as being both derogatory and inaccurate. I know, I was there working with the educators and therapists for my son.

And there's nothing "politically correct" about not using derogatory terms. Some people still use the "n" word to describe people of color -- that doesn't make it right, and it doesn't make not using it "politically correct."

Of course people take this so-called "joke" personally. The meaning is clear in the so-called "joke." The attempt at humor comes from trying to equate the word "retired" with the word "retarded." In the writer's lexicon (and the writer was indeed not a child, just a stupid adult pretending to be a child) "retarded" means someone to be laughed at and mocked, and this screed took it and used it in that context. You don't have to have a personal connection to find this offensive, unfeeling, and just plain mean-spirited.

And, IMO, anyone who thinks this is funny doesn't know or care much about other people's feelings, especially those who have gone through the hell of raising an autistic or learning-disabled child.

It is sad that so many kids (and maybe adults) use the word "retard" freely as an insult. Hope in the coming years it will go the way of the N word.

Sounds like this story came from the south - where saying 'retired' might sound an awful lot like 'retarded' to a child!

I stand corrected....we were just behind in the 60's and early 70's in Maine.....you know, out of touch.
We were still doing "Moron" jokes there. I suspect we weren't as sophisticated as the rest of the country.
Most didn't use the N word either, if anyone did....they were frowned upon.
I am of the opinion "politically correct" is total poop invented by the Clinton administration to cover his flubs.

My father was 10 months old when he contacted polio in 1910. Seeings how Salk wasn't even born yet, the only thing the doctors could do when his legs drew up, they cut the cords at the back of his knees making it impossible for him to walk without throwing his legs and locking his knees. He had to use a cane his whole life. He hated the word "Crippled" and it was not allowed in the house. We saw people make fun of him behind his back. When anyone would say anything to us 4 girls, we would just ask them if their father was a concert pianist who could play Tiko-Tiko or Flight of the Bumblebee without the music in front of them. Believe me, I know your plight but I never reprimanded anyone for using a word.
I think I'd be safe in saying no one on this board thinks of your children as being retarded. That hasn't been used in years. They are such special children that it would be cruel indeed and I can't think of anyone on here being that cruel. We might not be perfect but we do have values.

I work in a residential facility which is home to 15 learning and (some) physically disabled adults. All are unique individuals in his/her own right. One can't help but love them, although sometimes they can be frustrating. A favorite quote from a former administrater is "Retarded means slow, NOT stupid!" How very true! many of our residents are very capable of teasing and having fun with us.

As far as this 'joke'...the only thing I chuckled at was the child's mispronunciation of 'retired'.

It sickens me when people use the "R" word.

Is anyone in the world perfect?