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February 26, 2010

Citizen of the Week: Caitlin Freeman

Dalton Daily Citizen

DALTON — Must of us don’t know it, but Wednesday is a special day for anyone involved with Special Olympics.

Wednesday is Spread the Word to End the Word, an event founded by Special Olympics International last year.

We could try to describe it for you, but we couldn’t do it half as well as Caitlin Freeman, a senior at Northwest High School, who clued us in via e-mail to what is going on.

“On that day,” she wrote, “advocates campaign to raise awareness for the derogatory use of the word retarded that is so rampant in this society. Individuals with intellectual disabilities are the single largest disability population in the world, up to 200 million people worldwide.

“In many countries, attitudes aimed at individuals with any sort of mental or developmental disability are much harsher than our own, with inhumane institutionalization, no health care, and incredibly negative attitudes. But even here in America, the place of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, they face terribly intimidating obstacles.

 “People feel that it is both appropriate and acceptable to use the word as a slang term for anything stupid, clumsy or meaningless. However, that is not the meaning of the word in any sense. The true definition is that of slowed or stunted development. Whereas this could be misleadingly translated to those who are a little slow, there is actually criteria that must be met to be diagnosed as mentally retarded or, more correctly, having an intellectual disability.

“As defined by the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), these include having an IQ below 70-75, significant limitations in at least two adaptive skill areas needed to function and integrate smoothly into society, and that the condition manifests itself before the age of 18.

“I work closely with Special Olympics as a volunteer, a Unified Partner (a normally developing teammate who trains and competes with the athletes), and a member of Special Olympics Georgia’s youth forum. This issue hits home with me, for I live with a brother who for years was made fun of for the differences in his development. This problem must be addressed, for this term is tossed about as if it is weightless, but in reality it is like a racial slur that goes deeper than the color of someone’s skin. Special Olympics is working towards a goal of 100,000 individual pledges to end personal use of the r-word on Wednesday. To take the pledge and find out more on the campaign, go on to www.r-word.org.”

For being able to articulate so well your passion for standing up for individuals such as your brother and going the extra mile for them, we name Caitlin Freeman as our Citizen of the Week.

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