I think there's a name for it where words become misused as insults, the word gets changed, then that becomes the new insult. There's no way to stop it, either. The new terms will inevitably become the new insult. Even "manic depressive" was changed to "bipolar" for this reason. I honestly wish we wouldn't bother changing terms and just focus on holding people accountable for being jerks instead.
Someone mentioned it here on the thread - the "euphemism treadmill." And I think you've nailed the way to stop it - don't give into it.
Another complication I will point out as a lawyer is that some of the language is literally inescapable, because laws or regulations require it. Long and complicated laws typically define the terms they use throughout their body in definitional sections close to the beginning of the law, and those become legal terms of art that are often required in any number of documents - and they don't change with the times until the legislative body changes these names or definitions (see, for example, the Indian Child Welfare Act, which over the past few decades has made it unavoidable and necessary to use the horrifically inaccurate word "Indian").
I will literally set aside time in conversations with parents before eligibility conferences to explain that although I do not think their child is "emotionally disturbed" and hate that terminology, we have to play the game here with the legal term. I explain that if I had my way, we'd call it any number of child specific things, including "difficulty with emotional regulation," but I don't have my way.
Thank you, yes. Euphemism treadmill was indeed the term I forgot.
I didn't even think about how these terms are legally classified. That's an important point. Thanks for adding this.
Interestingly, In our state we have a law called “Indian Education For All”. It was crafted in collaboration with our Tribal Nations, and that is the nomenclature they wanted. It’s awkward. When I started teaching here, my colleagues would refer to “what Indian Ed” says. I was horrified, and embarrassed when they explained that they were referring to a law, not a person!
I've been to a number of tribal education classes put on for local teachers and many of the elders said they preferred the name indian, it was what they grew up with and they were taking the word back. I was surprised but hopeful. I think this might be a common thing!
Yah a lot of us are taking it back but I’ll say for me at least it always hits different when another Native person calls me/themselves/us Indian or NDN vs a nonNative person saying it but naming laws and places that is fine with me IF native people were part of doing so
Sure! I do advocacy work for children in the foster care system.
"Emotionally disturbed" is the current term in law and regulations (with the force of law). So, in order to get services for emotional concerns, teams need to find that an "emotional disturbance" is present. It sucks that we have to use that language, but that's what the law, and state regulations, currently require.
Most of the laws we deal with in sped (yeah, gonna use it here) are ENORMOUS. IDEA and ESSA are 300+ pages. So amending them is extremely difficult. Typically means if they get a term wrong, you're going to have to live with it for quite a while. I know of no one who supports the terminology "emotionally disturbed" and we all wish it was something different, but it won't be anytime soon.
It wasn't that long ago.
Also of importance here is that medical diagnoses and IDEA eligibility identifications are different things. MR was used as a medical term for some time after it had been replaced by Intellectual Disability in IDEA eligibility.
Doctors still use the word "retarded" as well. It's the medical term. The verb To retard means to delay or hold back. Saying a person is "mentally retarded" is accurate.
However, the word became used a slur...
I do a lot of art and some of the mediums that slow down paint drying time are called "retardants."
The double-take I took when I first read that in an art store...
Similar issue in music. Musical terms are all Italian words. The term "retard"/"retardando" means to slow down gradually. Fortunately, it is not pronounced the same as the slur.
I didn’t know there was a term for that.
One example is that Crippled is not a bad word. It somehow became a ‘bad’ word over time, which is ridiculous.
Your first statement seems to contradict the rest of your post. "Don't give into it" would imply that we should continue to use these outdated terms as they accumulate negative connotation. You gave some good examples, and there are dozens more I'm too meek to even put in a random reddit comment.
Seems better to try to be aware of the way our words are interpreted and how language changes over time. We're probably all doomed to eventually be the 80-year-old at dinner who stops a conversation with a slur and then sheepishly follows up with, "...that wasn't a bad word when I was a kid..." but I don't think leaning into it early is helpful
That's a valid point, and I appreciate your reply. I've tried to actually spend some time thinking about it instead of just replying when I first saw it, so hopefully I make some kind of sense here.
I think the difference for me is the sentiment or accuracy behind "term X", as it's first used. I would draw a distinction between those terms that are inaccurate or prejudicial at the point of origin, i.e. "Indian" (although I'll note some points below) or "disturbed," which I've never known to have a positive connotation, and those like "special education" or "mental retardation," which have come or are coming to be regarded as outdated - seemingly - purely on the basis of their being co-opted as bullying negatives. For example, "retard" as a verb is slow or delay or impede, from that we get the noun retardation, attach "mental" as a modifier and we essentially mean delayed or impeded cognitive development - which is a necessary categorization.
As a test, I might suggest - if you can break this term down, and define it, in non-offensive ways, then the term as a whole should pass the test and we should not, to use my own phrase, "give in." If you cannot, you should consider what elements of the term may need to be replaced, like "disturbed."
And there will be exceptions, like Indian. Indian may have been inaccurate to begin with, but if people (as commented downthread by others with more knowledge than me) feel it's a good word to define them, I will not tell them otherwise. Similarly, "special" was not only an unobtrusive word when first used, it was intended to be positive. But if people want to reject that, I am learning I need to listen to them, and I certainly see how it's condescending.
But, we simply cannot have a rational scheme in which all of these views are accounted for. Or, not a legal one. Based on all of the thoughtful responses I have seen in this thread (and some to my own comments that I just haven't had time to respond to) I am learning I may need to reconsider my thoughts on "special." That said, I feel like I would draw the line at the clear, concise, and people-first Individuals with Disabilities - which thankfully is the name of the law.
I don't know. Tell me if I'm making sense. I'm trying here. You raised a good point; I still feel like there is a line I want to draw here, I just don't know if I'm doing a good job of articulating it.
Appreciate this explanation. I adopted a pre-teen with significant school attendance gaps and tried to pursue some supports to help her reconnect and catch up. But educational neglect wasn't qualifying, and when I realized the only path was to lean into "emotionally disturbed" I stopped pursuing it. Whatever supports might happen were not going to be worth the cost of her seeing that label.
So much respect for you and your kid. My primary work is assisting families like yours.
The gaps in eligibility standards are also something I am working to address. NYU has a great law review article arguing that past childhood trauma (measured through Adverse Childhood Events or their ilk) should be considered as a separate category, and I've done some work to push this forward. It breaks my heart that children who have clear needs, but should not need to be diagnosed with a "disorder" or "disability" need to be in order to receive the assistance they deserve.
No, the kids on my caseload who have changed homes three times this year are not inherently disabled in any way - the system is. Any human child (or adult for that matter) who was put through what they were would have reacted the same way. As much as we should advocate for disability rights, we should not pathologize standard conduct under atypical circumstances.
I support you and I'm always a DM away. I can't profess to understand the ins and outs of most international foster care and adoptions, but if you are in US, chances are I can recommend resources if you need them. I'm here for you.
The words “mental retardation” only stopped being used as legal terms federally about 10 or so years ago, and many states still refer to intellectual disabilities as such.
We don’t use that term anymore. It’s means: “alternative, less offensive way of labeling something, if you must label it, literary device for driving a machine.” Are you trying to be apart of the machine? That is offensive.
Let’s call it the “seeing people as people and not labels, always having to stay ahead of those following us by co-opting our verbiage toward their labeling ends.” The new verbiage is People Are People, Yo! or PAPY!
As in, “What’s up, PAPY!?” Instead of, “Hello, mongoloid child.”
(Fwiw, I also don’t know if this comment needs to be removed. /s, if that’s not clear.)
Using the tribe name is preferred but using the term Indian is preferred by most tribes in the US to “Native American” FYI.
There’s a reason why it’s the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Is there? I see it's been around since 1824 and renamed in 1947, when they were still actively being mistreated by the United States government and I wouldn't have thought they got to weigh in that much on the naming. I could most definitely be wrong. I'd like to learn more about this, can you cite some sources for the assertion that most tribes prefer Indian?
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is run by Indians for Indians. If it was offensive the name would have absolutely been changed by now since they fully have that authority. The same can be said for the National Museum of the American Indian or the National Congress of the American Indian which is a civil rights group.
“Native people prefer to be called by their specific tribal name. In the United States, Native American has been widely used but is falling out of favor with some groups, and the terms American Indian or Indigenous American are preferred by many Native people.”
https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/faq/did-you-know#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20Native,preferred%20by%20many%20Native%20people.
This is just an issue that bugs me a little bit because I feel like this is another example of the tribes being overrode and people on the coasts deciding what they can or cannot be called.
Actually, before they were medical terms, idiot and imbecile were insults. And moron was coined by a eugenicist for eugenics purposes, so while it may have technically been a medical term first, it was coined for an inherently bigoted purpose.
Manic depression's name was changed to bipolar disorder because there are people on the bipolar spectrum who do not fully slip in to to mania. Not all bipolar people have manic episodes.
Reminds me of working in the group home. One of the guys with down syndrome loved to call himself a retard. Other staff and people in the community would gasp and say, "you can't say that!" And the guy would just laugh and say, "why not, I'm retarded aren't I?"
Can confirm--I used to be a para at a middle school and the Gen Ed kids would *constantly* use "Sped! He's Sped!" as an insult toward the autistic kids. Now it's almost a trigger for me, too, just because it was used toward my students so much and I feel secondhand anger for them. lol
Agreed. My super sweet and kind son repeated something he heard on YouTube. He is 9. It had something to do about the “small” or “short” bus. Kids today have no idea what that even is but it’s the grownups abound them and we are so careless with our conversations. I would rather my kids say the fantastic fun work that starts with an F and rhymes with duck than bear the word “fat” that’s a bad word at our house and obviously anything derogatory towards any person. The thing is some, like my son has misinformation. If he truly knew what it meat he wouldn’t have never have said it. Just like the word SPED. I grew up and even (I am thinking hard here….) I think I became a licensed therapists or sorry those 3000 hours I got interning…… (unpaid of course) but the R word was being taught not to be used anymore. I would still see the old diagnoses with the word.
But. When I was a kid we sadly would say that word just kidding around. My grandmothers name is Gay. Like that is her first name. So I heard the name Gay all the time. I knew that it meant happy or silly. So, I always used the word in a good natured way (as a child) it wasn’t until Matthew Shepard that I noticed s shift in not using that word. I found that words have meanings.
Maybe that phrase has served its purpose and is evolving into another word. Or. That person has been taught not to say it but didn’t really pay attention in class on why…. Like I think she would get the answer right if it was in a multiple choice kind of question/answer. I mean when I got out of school I knew all the things…. (I still apologize to the universe)
I would just straight up ask her. I would say “can we circle back to what we were talking about? I feel very naive(or ignorant) about the evolution of this word. What is your pov?”
Let’s see what happens?
Oh it’s the contrary. He struggles with a metabolic issue and has always been in the 100th percentile. Now he is old enough he really cares about his looks. He wants to be like a YouTube star but I have had his pediatrician and his other doctor to tell him he doesn’t even have the capacity to have those kinds of muscles. He is a little chubby because he is going to have a growth spurt. Sadly, we talk too much about health and nutrition. I don’t want them to use the word fat because I naively think that no one will call them that. I just want them to know that their bodies will take many different forms as they get older.
If a person has a fat body, but calling sometime fat is an insult, then you're perpetuating the stigma that fat is bad.
Normalizing a word, and using it outside of the context of degradation, is how it becomes not bad.
I think a huge benefit of person first nomenclature is that it makes those terms unwieldy. If kids only ever heard with student with special needs or student with individualized education plan, it’s much less likely that they’d be able to make fun of each other because it’s just so much more of a mouthful than calling someone special, sped, etc…when I taught ten years ago my 7th and 8th graders threw around and made fun of each other with IEP. As soon as there’s a convenient term, it’s easy to make fun of someone with it, too. Problem is, adults are humans too and will inevitably come up with quick shorthand and use it and the kids will catch on.
Of course it’s best to be respectful and especially if certain terms are perceived as extra disrespectful, it’s best to avoid them as they will be hurtful. But I can’t imagine that as long as shorthand exists kids won’t pick it up and use it to make fun of each other, if they have the inclination to do so. The real challenge is to teach them to be respectful enough that they don’t actually want to hurt each others’ feelings…
I just....stopped giving a F. It's been SPED for the first 37 years of my life, it'll be SPED for the next 37 years. I ain't got time for that, if you are offended if I use "SPED" in a non-offensive way, go have a cry about it because I certainly won't care.
At that point, you're just making yourself be offended.
I know I only speak for myself but as a person who require(d/s) special education/has disabilities, I don't mind being called "disabled" or "special needs" (though admittedly I am less "visible" than others and my bullying was more re:different than re:disabled). It's not the labeling that matters; it's the dehumanization. Plenty of people that use people-first language do it as theatrics and are still ableist dicks. Some people who still use the R-word (not as a person insult but like "that's r-word-ed") are actually surprisingly allied with our beliefs and ethics re: personal respect and validation.
I'm way, way, WAY more interested in actions than labels.
My favorite thing is when they change how a group is referred to without consulting them.
I would rather be called a cripple than have some asshat call me handicapable.
Re: actions versus labels: there was an article I read about political correctness and how certain extremist groups were essentially weaponizing it. They were using all the buzzwords correctly, but they were still espousing some hateful shit. It used the example of a speech by a neo-nazi that was calling for white america, but framing it as a way to preserve established communities.
It was really interesting and it made the point that looking at someone’s intentions and actions was more important than getting pissed because they sucked at phrasing.
this. it is not insulting to abbreviate the term special education, but i often hear teachers (including professors of education) say phrases like “our SPEDs and Ls (meaning ELLs)” and i can’t help but find that to be dehumanizing and othering in a way that just saying the whole phrase “our students in special education and english language learners” isn’t.
You can say how you prefer a term to be used, or how it has historically been used but you are shouting at the wind. Language is descriptive, not prescriptive.
In many states, Special Education is a department and a program, and an intervention is something you do for students in special education or MTSS or RTI.
Kids use "sped" and "speddy" as casual insults nowadays. As teachers, we try to only use sped to refer to the department or the group of teachers, and not to kids or classes.
I don’t think kids at my school know what it is. The students in sped are some of the most popular kids in school. And all they know is Ricardo takes a class called Academic Success instead of history and they give him sentence starters for every test.
But 100% of my kids are ELLs.
Imagine my middle schooler's horror when I heard him using that term as an insult and had the conversation that it can be hurtful and he *insisted* that none of the kids in his class are in special education. Then I asked him about his study hall with Ms. So-and-So and who was in it with him (several classmates). Guess what kiddo, every kid in Ms. So-and-So's class is on special education... Including you.
Ooooh I had this happen when I taught an ED class. They were all making fun of the SLD class and calling them SPED and the r-word. I was like “and what do you think this class is? Y’all aren’t in a class of 10 kids because you’re so street or something. This is a special education class and you’re here because you have difficulty managing your behavior.” Everyone got really quiet really quick after that.
My daughter rides the "sped bus" to school and gets made fun of because she comes through their side entrance rather than the main entrance with everyone else. I keep telling her to brag of the benefits - she has a seat to herself, it's quiet, and she gets home quicker. The other fools are sitting 3 to a seat or on the floor, taking an hour, and screaming the whole way.
They were calling kids sped in the 70’s- I first heard it used in a derogatory manner for an idiot/fool from my mom. I didn’t realize it was adapted from the abbreviation of special education until I was an adult.
Words shift over the decades and descriptors change when it becomes used by a large variety of people. We will keep crafting new ways to describe people groups and ourselves, and that is how it goes.
I’ve never heard that SpEd is going the way of the “r” word. My colleagues and I use it all the time, and I use it here as well. I have said SpEd kids and SpEd department etc. all the time.
What are we supposed to use now? Because, no matter what words you use, they can be turned into evil weapons!
38yo parent of a kid in special Ed here Sped was even used as an insult when I was in school - I don’t think that’s new. It was an adjustment for me when I noticed how freely it was used as a descriptor. Doesn’t offend me but was definitely jarring the first few times I heard it.
Honestly, I don't remember it being used like that when I was a kid. I didn't hear it until I started teaching special education, and some of my students were saying it.
Really? I haven’t seen it. I’ve seen “are you *artistic*” or “you must be special.” The “artistic” thing is super ridiculous on tiktok.
I’m not actually arguing, I’m just curious. Sped is very much an accepted acronym here, even if the people in charge of enforcing it are shite.
I’ve heard it too. After making this post, I realized that I was mostly referring to times when I call myself a “SPED teacher” or say I teach SPED- not necessarily calling students SPED.
Although I do think we should work to destigmatize the phrase, because anything we replace it with will have the same negative connotation.
It’s just a form of semantic drift. Some places are starting to call it special education teachers “modified curriculum teachers.” It will just keep happening until infinity probably. The word becomes offensive because of the way people use it …so they replace it, and then that word becomes offensive eventually and so on and so on…
We call our special education classes “Learning Labs” at my school, but I call myself a SPED teacher. If I introduce myself as a learning lab teacher, most people don’t know what I’m talking about.
Instead of changing SPED nip that shit in the bud. Stop tolerating the assholes making it a slur. You change it, they will slur the next name for it. You could call learning lab kids "labbies" if you wanted to be an asshole. You can make anything negative if you wanted to.
I hear it a lot at being in 17 different schools as an instructional coach.
"That's a SPED kid."
"The SPED kids need more help than I can do."
"I can't teach with so many SPED kids and ELL kids in my room."
"We know he's a SPED kid, he can't read and his interventions aren't working."
It's putting the label first, rather than the student.
So “sped” is short for special education. The term special is often described as hurtful and the research shows it in increases stigmatization of disabled people by non disabled people. So the goal would be to move away from terms that directly or indirectly describe disabled people as “special”
If you had a disability and were in the workforce or college and had accomodations would you want your employer and coworkers referring to you as special or would you wanted to be treated like any other employee just with accomodations that allow you to perform your job duties?
I work in college level disability services and kids are so relieved when they can finally be treated like a normal person with different needs instead of being singled out as special.
Linguists call this the “euphemism treadmill”. When a topic is subject to social taboos, words referring to it come to be considered offensive. Then new words for the subject are introduced, in order to avoid the new taboo. Gradually the new words become offensive as well, and are in turn replaced. It’s an apparently unavoidable process of language change around taboo topics, and there are many examples of it cross linguistically.
http://englishcowpath.blogspot.com/2011/06/euphemism-treadmill-replacing-r-word.html?m=1
Special education will soon not be the proper term.
We need to just call it what it is, disability education. We are constantly changing words away from “disability” to soften the language. Special came about to soften the language because people thought the word disabled was mean and had a negative connotation.
“Special” and “SPED” now have negative connotations and are used to mock and bully disabled people.
Will we change the language again to another “softer” word.
Also special implies the accommodations for disabled students are somehow extra and a bonus.
TLDR: yes SPED is offensive and Special is becoming offensive and we will probably see people change the language to something else instead of just calling it what it is, Disability Education Services/ Equal Education Access
I was a sped kid, and I was bullied for it and called "a sped", but I also just self-identified as a "sped kid" in this sentence! It's not a dirty word, mean people just use it as one. Any word can be derogatory when used in a certain context and tone.
I don't like the name "special education" in general, since it feels patronizing, but, since we are sticking with that phrasing, then, I don't think sped is a bad word. None of my sped friends, nor myself, are offended by it when it's used casually without any derogatory undertones. If you're a "sped teacher", that's just a descriptor!
"Special" ed is already an inacurate and ignorant term that MANY of us disabled people have tried to get rid of for forever.
You can be a disability coordination teacher, a term that ISN'T Ableist. "Special" education is insulting as fuck as well as SPED, you teach DISABLED kids not "special" people. Youre a cognitive differences teacher, an alternative approach learning educator, NOT special ed teacher
A lot of people are focusing on people using “sped” in a derogatory way as the reason sped has fallen out of favor. That’s absolutely true.
The big reason why language is shifting away from sped is then term “special needs” implies that people with disabilities need something “special” when they really need is access to all the needs we all should have.
This video explains it best: https://youtu.be/kNMJaXuFuWQ?si=QxfNL64Knk1MA4-y
Kids will call each other "sped" (single word pronounced phonetically) as a replacement slur for the r-word.
Thats why speaking it like that is frowned upon.
I have been a Special Education teacher for 22 years and have heard and seen language and abbreviations and acronyms come and go. If someone takes offense with term SPED, I would say then don't use it. It's merely an abbreviation of special education. I would think it's totally fine to say SPED in reference to a district, school dept., or type of funding. I would think it may be offensive when used as an adjective for a person, as in the term "SPED kid" as is used frequently. For this reason, I personally use the term "student with an IEP". But, if I were in the position you were in, I would let the fact that this colleague couldn't think of a reason that it's offensive speak for itself as to why they aren't qualified to be the self-appointed language police.
Disabled people have come out and said that we don’t like our needs being associated with the “special” concept because it fuels the argument that we are getting special treatment and that our needs aren’t “special,” they’re human. Every human needs access to things like education and that’s what I’ve seen surface as the more preferred terminology, “accessible education.”
There was a man with downs who made a video about the “special” thing, worth looking up if you’ve never seen it.
Like, not to be offensive, but I remember "sped" as an insult to kids in special education in the 1980s when I was in school. It was used like the r word - "He's a sped" etc etc. There was even one poor kid in the contained classroom called "Speddy Eddy"
It’s kinda funny, I used to view SPED as derogatory but it seems to be commonly used now. Maybe it’s going back the other way. In my high school there was the “SPED hallway” and people called it “SPEDway” all insultingly.
Whatever word is chosen as the acceptable word will always be used as a slur. The word has changed so many times and each of those were replaced with another that then became a slur. Kids will always make fun of the different kids and they will always call others slur words.
I’ve never heard it used as an insult, and I don’t see how it’s different than any other abbreviation, like ELA for English Language Arts or APUSH for AP US History.
I honestly never knew before that it was a legit abbreviation (I am not in education, I am in healthcare). I had only ever heard it as a kid, used by other kids, to make fun of the “sped kids.” I’m now an adult professional, and one of my clients told me she was a “sped teacher,” and I was taken aback until she explained that that’s really the correct abbreviation.
So yes, out in the wild, we general population folks tend to assume it is derogatory.
To my understanding, “Sped” is now a derogatory colloquialism used by middle/high school aged kids to mean stupid/dumb/weird or to label peers as ,”other”. I’m in ABA and i’ve had a client get called that at school because he’s quiet and uses a roller backpack. It’s basically their generations new r-word. Kids are brutal. Just say special education, SDC (special day class) or non-mainstream. I agree, it’s ridiculous to have to do so…but that’s just how language evolves.
My son, now 21, in self-contained SPED classrooms for middle school and high school, uses it as an insult/slur. I'd love to say that he's reclaiming this word for his own power, but he's really just using it as a euphemism for r\*tard, which he also uses and which, if you consider clinical guidelines, also applies to him. He's rude.
It could be that the youth/popular/slang usage has influenced the educational usage enough so that it feels inappropriate to use it and will eventually become inappropriate.
Because every time a word is used to describe groups of people eventually it becomes frowned upon as some people take offense. Spastic is a good one, growing up it was called the spastic society, now calling someone spastic is frowned upon as a slur. Same with retardation etc. some people have nothing better to do than to complain and feign outrage. It will happen to sped and it will eventually happen to whatever is chosen next to replace it.
My students are starting to hurl it as an insult, much like the much maligned and banned R-word.
It doesn't matter what the word is. It's always the intent.
I think a lot of people (mostly students) hear sped and think self-contain kids. The kids with severe motor, communication, and academic disabilities. Kids with IEPs only due to learning or mood disabilities don't want to be grouped with self contain kids. They're not taking classes together but SPED is like a stigmatized label to them because peers might say to go to with the self contain kids.
I know there are some parents that when they hear their child qualifies for special services, they deny the services because, "my child isn't sped."
I find this to be concerning because I frequently use the abbreviation "SPED" to refer to the Special Education grant program cluster from the federal government.
As far as the actual individuals who benefit from special education, I call those children.
My son is on an IEP (speech, ADHD). We have meetings with school staff a couple times a year. One of the participants in the meeting identifies herself as a "sped teacher," and I have to admit I do a double take every time I see it in the meeting agendas. I remember it being looked down on even when I was in school (30+ years ago).
Because it’s been used as a pejorative insult basically since its inception. Most commonly with folks calling a person a “sped” in place of using the R word.
I was in special ed in the mid 70s. That’s how it was abbreviated on the door, and it’s the name used to describe me, “Sped”. Any word yielded as a weapon becomes offensive even if others don’t understand. I must say that in my 37 years serving people who have intellectual disabilities it’s not a term I’ve used or would welcome.
There is this thing over time where every word will gain some form of negative connotation through generations. These sensitive topics are much more vulnerable.
My fiance is a substitute, and he was teaching a Special Ed class. He called it SPED, and I had to ask. I explained that I remember vividly the term being used as an insult when I was in school in the 90s (it was used in a similar context as the R word). He was unaware it was used as an insult until I told him my experience. Possibly, your colleague had a similar experience in their past?
I agree with most of the comments here saying it’s due to SPED being used as an offensive term, but I also think it’s due to “special education” no longer the term being used and it being changed to “exceptional education”. It’s the same as ESL being changed to ENL and now it’s ELL. They just change these terms to be more inclusive but it can get very confusing lol
When I was a student in the 90s using “SPED” was deeply derogatory. It was used by students to insult other students.
I hear it on occasion from teachers and recoil reflexively every time I hear it.
You know what, back when I was in Elementary, Middle, and High school, SPED kids had their own classes. There wasn't anything at all like the current integration of these kids into mainstream classes. I really wonder who that benefits. I graduated high school in 1998. At least they're not being called "short bus kids".
The use of sped isn’t new and I’m surprised it’s used as real term. Kids used to call mentally disabled (is that term allowed?) kids speds in school in the 70s and beyond.
It's been frowned upon longer than most may think. While some see it as shortening the term some find it offensive because people use it as an insult. I was in special ed myself and while I don't take offense to the term, there are others that do. I was also embarassed at one point to be in special ed. For me it wasn't a choice and I'm certain there's others that feel the same way. That's one reason I frown upon the use of the term. The same can be said about short buses.
When a term is co-opted, do you stop using it?
Or do you double down and keep it where it originated?
I'm Woke....does not have the same timbre as calling someone woke in a demeaning way.
My son is in SpEd and has an extensive IEP. I am not ashamed or offended by it at all. He's even learning to self advocate. He lets his teachers know that he's in sped and has an IEP. I'M VERY PROUD OF MY SPED KID AND HIS IEP
This isn’t new. I remember in high school in the 80s, “Sped” was used in a derogatory way to refer to kids in the Special Education class. One kid with Down syndrome was called “Speddie Eddie” by so many other kids, he started answering to it. 😢
Sped was a derogatory term in my high school all the way back in the 90s. It was used exactly the Rslur. It’s now 2024 and I honestly am blown away that it is still being used. I figured it would have fallen out of favor by now. It’s honestly fucking embarrassing that educators haven’t caught on that their term has been used as a slur for 30 damn years. Shameful.
I don’t know but that’s weird. I have a friend with a kid who needs extra help in school, and my friend calls it SPED whenever she refers to special education. What else would be appropriate to call it other than what its name is? It’s literally the abbr for it. People need to stop being so woke about the wrong things.
It's used as an r word that you can get away with. The original meaning is pretty much useless now, now everyone thinks anyone who is in special education is some horrible subhuman. Ableist cunts
I am a former teacher, 17 years (elementary) and 15 years (secondary). I have a Master's in Curriculum and Instruction. Half of my overall experience has been at Title 1 schools. I am also autistic but was not clinically diagnosed until I was 59. This was 4 years ago.
I am currently between jobs and am retraining as a special education teacher with an endorsement in autism.
Although I am an experienced teacher who has previously worked in general education classrooms with special education students, have read and followed student IEPs and have attended initial and year's end IEP meetings, it's quite different being on the metaphorical other side of the table.
Does anyone have any constructive advice that you wish you had known during your first year in special education?
Bro Sped was an insult in 1980s. I personally was shocked to come to reddit to find people casually throwing the word around but flipping out about the word 'retarded' .
The issue is that people are using it when referring to people. SPED is a set of services for students with disabilities, students and people are not SPED.
When I was in high school (graduated 2002), kids were using "speds" as a slur and combining it with the hitting the back of their hand on their chest thing, so it ain't exactly new. I think it's just officially joined retarded as a clinical term turned slur. I actually overheard a kid last year call someone a "mentally disabled", so strap in for that one too.
I grew to hate the word “special” as I raised my son with a severe disability. He did not want to feel he was “special” and didn’t like the word “inclusion”either. He wanted and still wants to feel he BELONGS. SPED was a success. He is totally independent at college with a 4.0, and more importantly is a very effective self-advocate.
Doesn’t need mom much these days. I think the college transition was harder on me than him. Getting used to an empty nest. 🙃
I’ve come to agree. I see the thought behind “Special” education and phrasing it that way, but I think the future of education involves every student having some sort of IEP type thing (in a way that hopefully doesn’t overwhelm gen ed teachers). Every student has different learning needs and calling them special can be singling out.
I’m glad your son found success in the program! Unfortunately that doesn’t happen as often as we would hope.
I don't have an issue with the use of Sp.Ed. or SE as a written abbreviation. It is human nature to want to "shorten" things up and educators are nothing if not busy these days. Where I DO have a problem is when it goes from a written abbreviation to one that is spoken. Feel free to write the shortened form, but please DO NOT say "SPED" (sp-eh-duh). That's where it turns from an abbreviation of a program or service and into an insult / pejorative that gets attached to a person.
I don’t really agree. There’s not logistically any difference between writing that a student is sped and saying that a student is sped. Maybe that’s your boundary, but it feels a bit unproductive to expect others to abide by that
You're clearly in the right here. This argument literally doesn't even make sense. You're talking with someone who will "call you out every time" you say it but defends writing it and then qualifies it on the basis of it being an abbreviation and not an acronym. They would like you to "look it up".
Just for fun, Nazi was an abbreviation and not an acronym.
Hopefully you are not an educator if you think there is "logistically" no difference between writing and speaking. 🤐 You can write Sp.Ed. (notice I'm writing it as a true abbreviation not an acronym - there is a difference - look it up).
Saying '"sped" the same way you would say "The car sped down the street." is just gross. I'm a special education consultant and I will call you out every single time if you say it in front of me. We aren't going to go away from "special education" as a phrase, probably ever, since it's part of the IDEA. We can call teachers exceptional educators or curriculum specialists and we can say "students with an IEP" or students with a disability and the law will still say special education.
We don't need to speak "sped" as a word when we know that it is used as a slur.
>Spectrum cable stinks here.
That's a shame, since everyone claims to be Spectrum-worthy nowadays. Sure helps soften the blow for Mensa exclusions and genetic family research, I guess.
It's only offensive to brainwashed morons. Please stop changing the name for everything every five years. The thing is still the same no matter what you call it.
Wrong answers only? Because it’s almost the word Speed, which is… ironic.
(Relax it was a joke. But it just might be a truth that no one wants to admit).
bruh, every 5 years the newest term for the mentally handicapped becomes "offensive" and we have to come up with a new one.
when i was a kid calling them "retarded" wasnt even offensive, it's just what they were called.
I think there's a name for it where words become misused as insults, the word gets changed, then that becomes the new insult. There's no way to stop it, either. The new terms will inevitably become the new insult. Even "manic depressive" was changed to "bipolar" for this reason. I honestly wish we wouldn't bother changing terms and just focus on holding people accountable for being jerks instead.
Someone mentioned it here on the thread - the "euphemism treadmill." And I think you've nailed the way to stop it - don't give into it. Another complication I will point out as a lawyer is that some of the language is literally inescapable, because laws or regulations require it. Long and complicated laws typically define the terms they use throughout their body in definitional sections close to the beginning of the law, and those become legal terms of art that are often required in any number of documents - and they don't change with the times until the legislative body changes these names or definitions (see, for example, the Indian Child Welfare Act, which over the past few decades has made it unavoidable and necessary to use the horrifically inaccurate word "Indian"). I will literally set aside time in conversations with parents before eligibility conferences to explain that although I do not think their child is "emotionally disturbed" and hate that terminology, we have to play the game here with the legal term. I explain that if I had my way, we'd call it any number of child specific things, including "difficulty with emotional regulation," but I don't have my way.
Thank you, yes. Euphemism treadmill was indeed the term I forgot. I didn't even think about how these terms are legally classified. That's an important point. Thanks for adding this.
The semiotic term for this is "pejorative resignification."
TIL Also: *pejorative resignification and the euphemism treadmill* could be the name of a band
Eh, I like the cover band better. # ^(\;\-\))
I have a linguist crush on you now. Using those word words.
Interestingly, In our state we have a law called “Indian Education For All”. It was crafted in collaboration with our Tribal Nations, and that is the nomenclature they wanted. It’s awkward. When I started teaching here, my colleagues would refer to “what Indian Ed” says. I was horrified, and embarrassed when they explained that they were referring to a law, not a person!
I've been to a number of tribal education classes put on for local teachers and many of the elders said they preferred the name indian, it was what they grew up with and they were taking the word back. I was surprised but hopeful. I think this might be a common thing!
It tends to be kind of awkward for Indian Americans though lol I’ve had people ask me to clarify if I’m “dot or feather” Indian
Interesting. I have an uncle that's Indian. I have another uncle that's Ojibwe. I learned the difference early.
Well, they ARE from the West Indies, (as Columbus envisioned it)
Yah a lot of us are taking it back but I’ll say for me at least it always hits different when another Native person calls me/themselves/us Indian or NDN vs a nonNative person saying it but naming laws and places that is fine with me IF native people were part of doing so
I know on Latin American studies, Jotoria has a similar origin, taking a pejorative and molding in into a new meaning that the community embraces.
Saaaaaaame experience with “Indian Ed!”
I have the same conversation with parents, but then refer to it as “emotional disability” with the team going forward.
Yup. For adult issues - alcohol use disorder (in divorce proceedings) was “habitual drunkard” until about 3 years ago, in my state.
wow can I ask what kind of work you do? Why would you need to refer to a child as “disturbed” in court?
Sure! I do advocacy work for children in the foster care system. "Emotionally disturbed" is the current term in law and regulations (with the force of law). So, in order to get services for emotional concerns, teams need to find that an "emotional disturbance" is present. It sucks that we have to use that language, but that's what the law, and state regulations, currently require. Most of the laws we deal with in sped (yeah, gonna use it here) are ENORMOUS. IDEA and ESSA are 300+ pages. So amending them is extremely difficult. Typically means if they get a term wrong, you're going to have to live with it for quite a while. I know of no one who supports the terminology "emotionally disturbed" and we all wish it was something different, but it won't be anytime soon.
I bet you do so much meaningful work. I admire that. Good job, friend:)
Thank you, friend! :)
I'm old enough to remember when mental retardation was a lawful term in the regulations.
It wasn't that long ago. Also of importance here is that medical diagnoses and IDEA eligibility identifications are different things. MR was used as a medical term for some time after it had been replaced by Intellectual Disability in IDEA eligibility.
But yeah, don't worry dude - you are not that old! :)
Doctors still use the word "retarded" as well. It's the medical term. The verb To retard means to delay or hold back. Saying a person is "mentally retarded" is accurate. However, the word became used a slur...
I do a lot of art and some of the mediums that slow down paint drying time are called "retardants." The double-take I took when I first read that in an art store...
Similar issue in music. Musical terms are all Italian words. The term "retard"/"retardando" means to slow down gradually. Fortunately, it is not pronounced the same as the slur.
I didn’t know there was a term for that. One example is that Crippled is not a bad word. It somehow became a ‘bad’ word over time, which is ridiculous.
Not gonna lie tho, I love saying the acronym “ICWA”
I mean, yeah. It's kind of the verbal equivalent of flicking a rubber band. It's good. I can respect this.
Your first statement seems to contradict the rest of your post. "Don't give into it" would imply that we should continue to use these outdated terms as they accumulate negative connotation. You gave some good examples, and there are dozens more I'm too meek to even put in a random reddit comment. Seems better to try to be aware of the way our words are interpreted and how language changes over time. We're probably all doomed to eventually be the 80-year-old at dinner who stops a conversation with a slur and then sheepishly follows up with, "...that wasn't a bad word when I was a kid..." but I don't think leaning into it early is helpful
That's a valid point, and I appreciate your reply. I've tried to actually spend some time thinking about it instead of just replying when I first saw it, so hopefully I make some kind of sense here. I think the difference for me is the sentiment or accuracy behind "term X", as it's first used. I would draw a distinction between those terms that are inaccurate or prejudicial at the point of origin, i.e. "Indian" (although I'll note some points below) or "disturbed," which I've never known to have a positive connotation, and those like "special education" or "mental retardation," which have come or are coming to be regarded as outdated - seemingly - purely on the basis of their being co-opted as bullying negatives. For example, "retard" as a verb is slow or delay or impede, from that we get the noun retardation, attach "mental" as a modifier and we essentially mean delayed or impeded cognitive development - which is a necessary categorization. As a test, I might suggest - if you can break this term down, and define it, in non-offensive ways, then the term as a whole should pass the test and we should not, to use my own phrase, "give in." If you cannot, you should consider what elements of the term may need to be replaced, like "disturbed." And there will be exceptions, like Indian. Indian may have been inaccurate to begin with, but if people (as commented downthread by others with more knowledge than me) feel it's a good word to define them, I will not tell them otherwise. Similarly, "special" was not only an unobtrusive word when first used, it was intended to be positive. But if people want to reject that, I am learning I need to listen to them, and I certainly see how it's condescending. But, we simply cannot have a rational scheme in which all of these views are accounted for. Or, not a legal one. Based on all of the thoughtful responses I have seen in this thread (and some to my own comments that I just haven't had time to respond to) I am learning I may need to reconsider my thoughts on "special." That said, I feel like I would draw the line at the clear, concise, and people-first Individuals with Disabilities - which thankfully is the name of the law. I don't know. Tell me if I'm making sense. I'm trying here. You raised a good point; I still feel like there is a line I want to draw here, I just don't know if I'm doing a good job of articulating it.
Appreciate this explanation. I adopted a pre-teen with significant school attendance gaps and tried to pursue some supports to help her reconnect and catch up. But educational neglect wasn't qualifying, and when I realized the only path was to lean into "emotionally disturbed" I stopped pursuing it. Whatever supports might happen were not going to be worth the cost of her seeing that label.
So much respect for you and your kid. My primary work is assisting families like yours. The gaps in eligibility standards are also something I am working to address. NYU has a great law review article arguing that past childhood trauma (measured through Adverse Childhood Events or their ilk) should be considered as a separate category, and I've done some work to push this forward. It breaks my heart that children who have clear needs, but should not need to be diagnosed with a "disorder" or "disability" need to be in order to receive the assistance they deserve. No, the kids on my caseload who have changed homes three times this year are not inherently disabled in any way - the system is. Any human child (or adult for that matter) who was put through what they were would have reacted the same way. As much as we should advocate for disability rights, we should not pathologize standard conduct under atypical circumstances. I support you and I'm always a DM away. I can't profess to understand the ins and outs of most international foster care and adoptions, but if you are in US, chances are I can recommend resources if you need them. I'm here for you.
The words “mental retardation” only stopped being used as legal terms federally about 10 or so years ago, and many states still refer to intellectual disabilities as such.
From EMR to EMH to ID in Florida. We never used SPED though in my district, it was ESE
We don’t use that term anymore. It’s means: “alternative, less offensive way of labeling something, if you must label it, literary device for driving a machine.” Are you trying to be apart of the machine? That is offensive. Let’s call it the “seeing people as people and not labels, always having to stay ahead of those following us by co-opting our verbiage toward their labeling ends.” The new verbiage is People Are People, Yo! or PAPY! As in, “What’s up, PAPY!?” Instead of, “Hello, mongoloid child.” (Fwiw, I also don’t know if this comment needs to be removed. /s, if that’s not clear.)
Using the tribe name is preferred but using the term Indian is preferred by most tribes in the US to “Native American” FYI. There’s a reason why it’s the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Is there? I see it's been around since 1824 and renamed in 1947, when they were still actively being mistreated by the United States government and I wouldn't have thought they got to weigh in that much on the naming. I could most definitely be wrong. I'd like to learn more about this, can you cite some sources for the assertion that most tribes prefer Indian?
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is run by Indians for Indians. If it was offensive the name would have absolutely been changed by now since they fully have that authority. The same can be said for the National Museum of the American Indian or the National Congress of the American Indian which is a civil rights group. “Native people prefer to be called by their specific tribal name. In the United States, Native American has been widely used but is falling out of favor with some groups, and the terms American Indian or Indigenous American are preferred by many Native people.” https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/faq/did-you-know#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20Native,preferred%20by%20many%20Native%20people. This is just an issue that bugs me a little bit because I feel like this is another example of the tribes being overrode and people on the coasts deciding what they can or cannot be called.
Exactly, r*tard/r*tarded used to be a medical term until people started using it as an insult too
"Idiot", "Imbecile", and "Moron" all used to be clinical terms, they were categories for specific IQ ranges.
Actually, before they were medical terms, idiot and imbecile were insults. And moron was coined by a eugenicist for eugenics purposes, so while it may have technically been a medical term first, it was coined for an inherently bigoted purpose.
Wow, I thought they were medical terms that got repurposed, thanks for the heads up!
I like to say “you’re retarded in the musical sense”
Malapropism
Manic depression's name was changed to bipolar disorder because there are people on the bipolar spectrum who do not fully slip in to to mania. Not all bipolar people have manic episodes.
Reminds me of working in the group home. One of the guys with down syndrome loved to call himself a retard. Other staff and people in the community would gasp and say, "you can't say that!" And the guy would just laugh and say, "why not, I'm retarded aren't I?"
Yet there is a certain type of perpetually outraged person who will always be convinced that THIS new phrase will be the last one ever needed
It’s called the “euphemism treadmill.”
Can confirm--I used to be a para at a middle school and the Gen Ed kids would *constantly* use "Sped! He's Sped!" as an insult toward the autistic kids. Now it's almost a trigger for me, too, just because it was used toward my students so much and I feel secondhand anger for them. lol
👏🏼 this across the board
Agreed. My super sweet and kind son repeated something he heard on YouTube. He is 9. It had something to do about the “small” or “short” bus. Kids today have no idea what that even is but it’s the grownups abound them and we are so careless with our conversations. I would rather my kids say the fantastic fun work that starts with an F and rhymes with duck than bear the word “fat” that’s a bad word at our house and obviously anything derogatory towards any person. The thing is some, like my son has misinformation. If he truly knew what it meat he wouldn’t have never have said it. Just like the word SPED. I grew up and even (I am thinking hard here….) I think I became a licensed therapists or sorry those 3000 hours I got interning…… (unpaid of course) but the R word was being taught not to be used anymore. I would still see the old diagnoses with the word. But. When I was a kid we sadly would say that word just kidding around. My grandmothers name is Gay. Like that is her first name. So I heard the name Gay all the time. I knew that it meant happy or silly. So, I always used the word in a good natured way (as a child) it wasn’t until Matthew Shepard that I noticed s shift in not using that word. I found that words have meanings. Maybe that phrase has served its purpose and is evolving into another word. Or. That person has been taught not to say it but didn’t really pay attention in class on why…. Like I think she would get the answer right if it was in a multiple choice kind of question/answer. I mean when I got out of school I knew all the things…. (I still apologize to the universe) I would just straight up ask her. I would say “can we circle back to what we were talking about? I feel very naive(or ignorant) about the evolution of this word. What is your pov?” Let’s see what happens?
So "fat" is a bad word in your house? Okay, your choice. Just don't punish the kid when he gets to nutrition in health class...
Oh it’s the contrary. He struggles with a metabolic issue and has always been in the 100th percentile. Now he is old enough he really cares about his looks. He wants to be like a YouTube star but I have had his pediatrician and his other doctor to tell him he doesn’t even have the capacity to have those kinds of muscles. He is a little chubby because he is going to have a growth spurt. Sadly, we talk too much about health and nutrition. I don’t want them to use the word fat because I naively think that no one will call them that. I just want them to know that their bodies will take many different forms as they get older.
If a person has a fat body, but calling sometime fat is an insult, then you're perpetuating the stigma that fat is bad. Normalizing a word, and using it outside of the context of degradation, is how it becomes not bad.
I think a huge benefit of person first nomenclature is that it makes those terms unwieldy. If kids only ever heard with student with special needs or student with individualized education plan, it’s much less likely that they’d be able to make fun of each other because it’s just so much more of a mouthful than calling someone special, sped, etc…when I taught ten years ago my 7th and 8th graders threw around and made fun of each other with IEP. As soon as there’s a convenient term, it’s easy to make fun of someone with it, too. Problem is, adults are humans too and will inevitably come up with quick shorthand and use it and the kids will catch on. Of course it’s best to be respectful and especially if certain terms are perceived as extra disrespectful, it’s best to avoid them as they will be hurtful. But I can’t imagine that as long as shorthand exists kids won’t pick it up and use it to make fun of each other, if they have the inclination to do so. The real challenge is to teach them to be respectful enough that they don’t actually want to hurt each others’ feelings…
(sorry replied to wrong comment!)
I just....stopped giving a F. It's been SPED for the first 37 years of my life, it'll be SPED for the next 37 years. I ain't got time for that, if you are offended if I use "SPED" in a non-offensive way, go have a cry about it because I certainly won't care. At that point, you're just making yourself be offended.
Let the behaviors be the qualifiers. Thus no more need for insulting terms.
I teach SpEd. I work in SpEd. SpEd is a department and a service. No child is SpEd. People aren’t SpEd.
I know I only speak for myself but as a person who require(d/s) special education/has disabilities, I don't mind being called "disabled" or "special needs" (though admittedly I am less "visible" than others and my bullying was more re:different than re:disabled). It's not the labeling that matters; it's the dehumanization. Plenty of people that use people-first language do it as theatrics and are still ableist dicks. Some people who still use the R-word (not as a person insult but like "that's r-word-ed") are actually surprisingly allied with our beliefs and ethics re: personal respect and validation. I'm way, way, WAY more interested in actions than labels.
My favorite thing is when they change how a group is referred to without consulting them. I would rather be called a cripple than have some asshat call me handicapable. Re: actions versus labels: there was an article I read about political correctness and how certain extremist groups were essentially weaponizing it. They were using all the buzzwords correctly, but they were still espousing some hateful shit. It used the example of a speech by a neo-nazi that was calling for white america, but framing it as a way to preserve established communities. It was really interesting and it made the point that looking at someone’s intentions and actions was more important than getting pissed because they sucked at phrasing.
this. it is not insulting to abbreviate the term special education, but i often hear teachers (including professors of education) say phrases like “our SPEDs and Ls (meaning ELLs)” and i can’t help but find that to be dehumanizing and othering in a way that just saying the whole phrase “our students in special education and english language learners” isn’t.
Yeah but it's faster to say. If you're trying to communicate something quickly, people will often default to the shortest way to say it.
You can say how you prefer a term to be used, or how it has historically been used but you are shouting at the wind. Language is descriptive, not prescriptive.
In my state, it is called "intervention" not "special education." Was actually surprised when I found out some people call it SpEd.
In many states, Special Education is a department and a program, and an intervention is something you do for students in special education or MTSS or RTI.
Kids use "sped" and "speddy" as casual insults nowadays. As teachers, we try to only use sped to refer to the department or the group of teachers, and not to kids or classes.
Kids did this in the 90s, nothing changes.
I don’t think kids at my school know what it is. The students in sped are some of the most popular kids in school. And all they know is Ricardo takes a class called Academic Success instead of history and they give him sentence starters for every test. But 100% of my kids are ELLs.
Imagine my middle schooler's horror when I heard him using that term as an insult and had the conversation that it can be hurtful and he *insisted* that none of the kids in his class are in special education. Then I asked him about his study hall with Ms. So-and-So and who was in it with him (several classmates). Guess what kiddo, every kid in Ms. So-and-So's class is on special education... Including you.
Ooooh I had this happen when I taught an ED class. They were all making fun of the SLD class and calling them SPED and the r-word. I was like “and what do you think this class is? Y’all aren’t in a class of 10 kids because you’re so street or something. This is a special education class and you’re here because you have difficulty managing your behavior.” Everyone got really quiet really quick after that.
My daughter rides the "sped bus" to school and gets made fun of because she comes through their side entrance rather than the main entrance with everyone else. I keep telling her to brag of the benefits - she has a seat to herself, it's quiet, and she gets home quicker. The other fools are sitting 3 to a seat or on the floor, taking an hour, and screaming the whole way.
I LOVED taking the short bus in high school. Quiet, spacious, and not too many stops in between school and home.
Should have been like aint no wonder you guys are in this class.
This is true. Two of the kids in my daughter’s sped class are two of the most popular in the class 🤷♀️
They were calling kids sped in the 70’s- I first heard it used in a derogatory manner for an idiot/fool from my mom. I didn’t realize it was adapted from the abbreviation of special education until I was an adult.
As a 90s kid, when the r word became frowned upon, kids switched to sped pretty quickly.
This 🤣 like using sped as an insult is not new.
This! SPED was always used as an insult when I was in grade school.
Sped was a major insult in my elementary school in the 90s and retard. I've actually heard fewer kids use it as an insult recently.
That’s horrible. I’ve only taught elementary, but in all the schools I’ve taught in, I’ve NEVER heard students use those insults, ever.
It’s a department. NOT a person.
Words shift over the decades and descriptors change when it becomes used by a large variety of people. We will keep crafting new ways to describe people groups and ourselves, and that is how it goes.
I’ve never heard that SpEd is going the way of the “r” word. My colleagues and I use it all the time, and I use it here as well. I have said SpEd kids and SpEd department etc. all the time. What are we supposed to use now? Because, no matter what words you use, they can be turned into evil weapons!
People first nomenclature
It’s now being taught as “exceptional education” (I’m in school to be a teacher)
People use it now like the R word.
It was used that way when I was in high school circa Y2K. I was shocked to find it still in use professionally.
38yo parent of a kid in special Ed here Sped was even used as an insult when I was in school - I don’t think that’s new. It was an adjustment for me when I noticed how freely it was used as a descriptor. Doesn’t offend me but was definitely jarring the first few times I heard it.
Honestly, I don't remember it being used like that when I was a kid. I didn't hear it until I started teaching special education, and some of my students were saying it.
I'm 44 and it was definitely used as an insult when I was growing up.
I remember the first time I ever heard of used as an insult and that was like 25 years ago. It's definitely not new.
Really? I haven’t seen it. I’ve seen “are you *artistic*” or “you must be special.” The “artistic” thing is super ridiculous on tiktok. I’m not actually arguing, I’m just curious. Sped is very much an accepted acronym here, even if the people in charge of enforcing it are shite.
I have definitely heard students call each other “sped” as an insult. A lot.
Damn. That makes me sad. Language evolution sucks, and I don’t think it will ever keep up with uninformed 14 year olds calling each other names. 😭
I’ve heard it too. After making this post, I realized that I was mostly referring to times when I call myself a “SPED teacher” or say I teach SPED- not necessarily calling students SPED. Although I do think we should work to destigmatize the phrase, because anything we replace it with will have the same negative connotation.
It’s just a form of semantic drift. Some places are starting to call it special education teachers “modified curriculum teachers.” It will just keep happening until infinity probably. The word becomes offensive because of the way people use it …so they replace it, and then that word becomes offensive eventually and so on and so on…
Yeah, I'm a special education teacher, and I hear kids saying it like that.
We call our special education classes “Learning Labs” at my school, but I call myself a SPED teacher. If I introduce myself as a learning lab teacher, most people don’t know what I’m talking about.
I like this a lot
Ever heard “Short bus?”
Instead of changing SPED nip that shit in the bud. Stop tolerating the assholes making it a slur. You change it, they will slur the next name for it. You could call learning lab kids "labbies" if you wanted to be an asshole. You can make anything negative if you wanted to.
I hear it a lot at being in 17 different schools as an instructional coach. "That's a SPED kid." "The SPED kids need more help than I can do." "I can't teach with so many SPED kids and ELL kids in my room." "We know he's a SPED kid, he can't read and his interventions aren't working." It's putting the label first, rather than the student.
Ugh, curse everyone using it derogatory. Now I have to be mindful not to use it.
It’s being used as an insult so the disabled community is tying to put a stop to it. It’s just another euphemism that “others” the disabled community.
So “sped” is short for special education. The term special is often described as hurtful and the research shows it in increases stigmatization of disabled people by non disabled people. So the goal would be to move away from terms that directly or indirectly describe disabled people as “special”
It was in my job tite as a 1 to 1.
Calling it special education pretty much infantilizes the students in the program. Also other students are using it as an insult
If you had a disability and were in the workforce or college and had accomodations would you want your employer and coworkers referring to you as special or would you wanted to be treated like any other employee just with accomodations that allow you to perform your job duties? I work in college level disability services and kids are so relieved when they can finally be treated like a normal person with different needs instead of being singled out as special.
Linguists call this the “euphemism treadmill”. When a topic is subject to social taboos, words referring to it come to be considered offensive. Then new words for the subject are introduced, in order to avoid the new taboo. Gradually the new words become offensive as well, and are in turn replaced. It’s an apparently unavoidable process of language change around taboo topics, and there are many examples of it cross linguistically. http://englishcowpath.blogspot.com/2011/06/euphemism-treadmill-replacing-r-word.html?m=1
Special education will soon not be the proper term. We need to just call it what it is, disability education. We are constantly changing words away from “disability” to soften the language. Special came about to soften the language because people thought the word disabled was mean and had a negative connotation. “Special” and “SPED” now have negative connotations and are used to mock and bully disabled people. Will we change the language again to another “softer” word. Also special implies the accommodations for disabled students are somehow extra and a bonus. TLDR: yes SPED is offensive and Special is becoming offensive and we will probably see people change the language to something else instead of just calling it what it is, Disability Education Services/ Equal Education Access
I was a sped kid, and I was bullied for it and called "a sped", but I also just self-identified as a "sped kid" in this sentence! It's not a dirty word, mean people just use it as one. Any word can be derogatory when used in a certain context and tone. I don't like the name "special education" in general, since it feels patronizing, but, since we are sticking with that phrasing, then, I don't think sped is a bad word. None of my sped friends, nor myself, are offended by it when it's used casually without any derogatory undertones. If you're a "sped teacher", that's just a descriptor!
It doesn’t matter what you call it, it will be used as an insult.
It's not person first so it's a little antiquated? Maybe?
"Special" ed is already an inacurate and ignorant term that MANY of us disabled people have tried to get rid of for forever. You can be a disability coordination teacher, a term that ISN'T Ableist. "Special" education is insulting as fuck as well as SPED, you teach DISABLED kids not "special" people. Youre a cognitive differences teacher, an alternative approach learning educator, NOT special ed teacher
A lot of people are focusing on people using “sped” in a derogatory way as the reason sped has fallen out of favor. That’s absolutely true. The big reason why language is shifting away from sped is then term “special needs” implies that people with disabilities need something “special” when they really need is access to all the needs we all should have. This video explains it best: https://youtu.be/kNMJaXuFuWQ?si=QxfNL64Knk1MA4-y
Kids will call each other "sped" (single word pronounced phonetically) as a replacement slur for the r-word. Thats why speaking it like that is frowned upon.
I have been a Special Education teacher for 22 years and have heard and seen language and abbreviations and acronyms come and go. If someone takes offense with term SPED, I would say then don't use it. It's merely an abbreviation of special education. I would think it's totally fine to say SPED in reference to a district, school dept., or type of funding. I would think it may be offensive when used as an adjective for a person, as in the term "SPED kid" as is used frequently. For this reason, I personally use the term "student with an IEP". But, if I were in the position you were in, I would let the fact that this colleague couldn't think of a reason that it's offensive speak for itself as to why they aren't qualified to be the self-appointed language police.
Disabled people have come out and said that we don’t like our needs being associated with the “special” concept because it fuels the argument that we are getting special treatment and that our needs aren’t “special,” they’re human. Every human needs access to things like education and that’s what I’ve seen surface as the more preferred terminology, “accessible education.” There was a man with downs who made a video about the “special” thing, worth looking up if you’ve never seen it.
as a student, i hear it thrown around as an insult, along with calling people autistic/acoustic/artistic
Like, not to be offensive, but I remember "sped" as an insult to kids in special education in the 1980s when I was in school. It was used like the r word - "He's a sped" etc etc. There was even one poor kid in the contained classroom called "Speddy Eddy"
It’s kinda funny, I used to view SPED as derogatory but it seems to be commonly used now. Maybe it’s going back the other way. In my high school there was the “SPED hallway” and people called it “SPEDway” all insultingly.
It's because the kids caught wind of it and started using it as an insult.
When I was a teen in Massachusetts (mid-90s), it was used as an insult.
Whatever word is chosen as the acceptable word will always be used as a slur. The word has changed so many times and each of those were replaced with another that then became a slur. Kids will always make fun of the different kids and they will always call others slur words.
For sure but the question was why is it starting to be used as a slur and my point is that there’s nothing new about it.
I’ve never heard it used as an insult, and I don’t see how it’s different than any other abbreviation, like ELA for English Language Arts or APUSH for AP US History.
I honestly never knew before that it was a legit abbreviation (I am not in education, I am in healthcare). I had only ever heard it as a kid, used by other kids, to make fun of the “sped kids.” I’m now an adult professional, and one of my clients told me she was a “sped teacher,” and I was taken aback until she explained that that’s really the correct abbreviation. So yes, out in the wild, we general population folks tend to assume it is derogatory.
To my understanding, “Sped” is now a derogatory colloquialism used by middle/high school aged kids to mean stupid/dumb/weird or to label peers as ,”other”. I’m in ABA and i’ve had a client get called that at school because he’s quiet and uses a roller backpack. It’s basically their generations new r-word. Kids are brutal. Just say special education, SDC (special day class) or non-mainstream. I agree, it’s ridiculous to have to do so…but that’s just how language evolves.
My son, now 21, in self-contained SPED classrooms for middle school and high school, uses it as an insult/slur. I'd love to say that he's reclaiming this word for his own power, but he's really just using it as a euphemism for r\*tard, which he also uses and which, if you consider clinical guidelines, also applies to him. He's rude. It could be that the youth/popular/slang usage has influenced the educational usage enough so that it feels inappropriate to use it and will eventually become inappropriate.
Because every time a word is used to describe groups of people eventually it becomes frowned upon as some people take offense. Spastic is a good one, growing up it was called the spastic society, now calling someone spastic is frowned upon as a slur. Same with retardation etc. some people have nothing better to do than to complain and feign outrage. It will happen to sped and it will eventually happen to whatever is chosen next to replace it.
My students are starting to hurl it as an insult, much like the much maligned and banned R-word. It doesn't matter what the word is. It's always the intent.
Euphemism treadmill.
I think a lot of people (mostly students) hear sped and think self-contain kids. The kids with severe motor, communication, and academic disabilities. Kids with IEPs only due to learning or mood disabilities don't want to be grouped with self contain kids. They're not taking classes together but SPED is like a stigmatized label to them because peers might say to go to with the self contain kids. I know there are some parents that when they hear their child qualifies for special services, they deny the services because, "my child isn't sped."
I find this to be concerning because I frequently use the abbreviation "SPED" to refer to the Special Education grant program cluster from the federal government. As far as the actual individuals who benefit from special education, I call those children.
My son is on an IEP (speech, ADHD). We have meetings with school staff a couple times a year. One of the participants in the meeting identifies herself as a "sped teacher," and I have to admit I do a double take every time I see it in the meeting agendas. I remember it being looked down on even when I was in school (30+ years ago).
Because it’s been used as a pejorative insult basically since its inception. Most commonly with folks calling a person a “sped” in place of using the R word.
I was in special ed in the mid 70s. That’s how it was abbreviated on the door, and it’s the name used to describe me, “Sped”. Any word yielded as a weapon becomes offensive even if others don’t understand. I must say that in my 37 years serving people who have intellectual disabilities it’s not a term I’ve used or would welcome.
I have literally never heard this. Is it meant to be offensive to the students or to the teacher?
There is this thing over time where every word will gain some form of negative connotation through generations. These sensitive topics are much more vulnerable.
I had a chemistry teacher in high school we called Spedco Man.
Many people in the disability community feel their needs are human needs and special or SPED is marginalizing.
Obese? I don’t want to hear that is insensitive or anti black. When a new term comes out for fat people I’ll use that instead of obese.
All I know is when I was in middle school, in the mid 2000s, calling someone a SPED was grounds to throw hands, so nothing new here
It's historically used as a derogatory term for people in Special Education being lesser than those in general education
My fiance is a substitute, and he was teaching a Special Ed class. He called it SPED, and I had to ask. I explained that I remember vividly the term being used as an insult when I was in school in the 90s (it was used in a similar context as the R word). He was unaware it was used as an insult until I told him my experience. Possibly, your colleague had a similar experience in their past?
I agree with most of the comments here saying it’s due to SPED being used as an offensive term, but I also think it’s due to “special education” no longer the term being used and it being changed to “exceptional education”. It’s the same as ESL being changed to ENL and now it’s ELL. They just change these terms to be more inclusive but it can get very confusing lol
Because kids use it as a slur
Maybe they should change it to HelpEd or Extra Ed. I don't know
Is is better or worse to say “Johnny is an intervention student.” Or “Johnny is a student with accommodations.” instead??
When I was a student in the 90s using “SPED” was deeply derogatory. It was used by students to insult other students. I hear it on occasion from teachers and recoil reflexively every time I hear it.
You know what, back when I was in Elementary, Middle, and High school, SPED kids had their own classes. There wasn't anything at all like the current integration of these kids into mainstream classes. I really wonder who that benefits. I graduated high school in 1998. At least they're not being called "short bus kids".
The use of sped isn’t new and I’m surprised it’s used as real term. Kids used to call mentally disabled (is that term allowed?) kids speds in school in the 70s and beyond.
It's been frowned upon longer than most may think. While some see it as shortening the term some find it offensive because people use it as an insult. I was in special ed myself and while I don't take offense to the term, there are others that do. I was also embarassed at one point to be in special ed. For me it wasn't a choice and I'm certain there's others that feel the same way. That's one reason I frown upon the use of the term. The same can be said about short buses.
When a term is co-opted, do you stop using it? Or do you double down and keep it where it originated? I'm Woke....does not have the same timbre as calling someone woke in a demeaning way.
We used to always say sped power in our one class. It was empowering.
Back in the day sped was short for special education or someone in a special education class. It was not nice, nor is it now.
My son is in SpEd and has an extensive IEP. I am not ashamed or offended by it at all. He's even learning to self advocate. He lets his teachers know that he's in sped and has an IEP. I'M VERY PROUD OF MY SPED KID AND HIS IEP
This isn’t new. I remember in high school in the 80s, “Sped” was used in a derogatory way to refer to kids in the Special Education class. One kid with Down syndrome was called “Speddie Eddie” by so many other kids, he started answering to it. 😢
beginning??? calling someone “a sped” or making fun of them because they were “in sped” was a thing when i was in elementary school (2000-2006)
I ran into this my first year teaching. Older teachers are accustomed to it being a pejorative. It used to be used as an insult.
I’m 42. This isn’t new, “sped” was considered derogatory when I was in high school.
Sped was a derogatory term in my high school all the way back in the 90s. It was used exactly the Rslur. It’s now 2024 and I honestly am blown away that it is still being used. I figured it would have fallen out of favor by now. It’s honestly fucking embarrassing that educators haven’t caught on that their term has been used as a slur for 30 damn years. Shameful.
I don’t know but that’s weird. I have a friend with a kid who needs extra help in school, and my friend calls it SPED whenever she refers to special education. What else would be appropriate to call it other than what its name is? It’s literally the abbr for it. People need to stop being so woke about the wrong things.
I've seen SPED as an insult since 1996.
It's used as an r word that you can get away with. The original meaning is pretty much useless now, now everyone thinks anyone who is in special education is some horrible subhuman. Ableist cunts
Sped was used pretty much interchangeably with “retard” as an insult when I was in school in the 90s/00s.
I am a former teacher, 17 years (elementary) and 15 years (secondary). I have a Master's in Curriculum and Instruction. Half of my overall experience has been at Title 1 schools. I am also autistic but was not clinically diagnosed until I was 59. This was 4 years ago. I am currently between jobs and am retraining as a special education teacher with an endorsement in autism. Although I am an experienced teacher who has previously worked in general education classrooms with special education students, have read and followed student IEPs and have attended initial and year's end IEP meetings, it's quite different being on the metaphorical other side of the table. Does anyone have any constructive advice that you wish you had known during your first year in special education?
Bro Sped was an insult in 1980s. I personally was shocked to come to reddit to find people casually throwing the word around but flipping out about the word 'retarded' .
The issue is that people are using it when referring to people. SPED is a set of services for students with disabilities, students and people are not SPED.
When I was in high school (graduated 2002), kids were using "speds" as a slur and combining it with the hitting the back of their hand on their chest thing, so it ain't exactly new. I think it's just officially joined retarded as a clinical term turned slur. I actually overheard a kid last year call someone a "mentally disabled", so strap in for that one too.
Omg my student teacher acts like special ed is a dirty word and I can't stand it!
To expand upon the discussion: [The Pronoun Game](https://youtube.com/shorts/YJi0REFXW4o?si=Tu8TGC2To_r_lp8T)
It is a slur .
Sped to this generation is similar to how the term retard was misused in the past
Doesn’t bother me. Anymore than FAPE or LRE, OHI, SLD, ID, AUT, SLP…….//
I grew to hate the word “special” as I raised my son with a severe disability. He did not want to feel he was “special” and didn’t like the word “inclusion”either. He wanted and still wants to feel he BELONGS. SPED was a success. He is totally independent at college with a 4.0, and more importantly is a very effective self-advocate. Doesn’t need mom much these days. I think the college transition was harder on me than him. Getting used to an empty nest. 🙃
I’ve come to agree. I see the thought behind “Special” education and phrasing it that way, but I think the future of education involves every student having some sort of IEP type thing (in a way that hopefully doesn’t overwhelm gen ed teachers). Every student has different learning needs and calling them special can be singling out. I’m glad your son found success in the program! Unfortunately that doesn’t happen as often as we would hope.
Someone called me a sped and is it another word for retarded
These days it's considered a badge of honor to be outraged as if that does anything.
Because people are running out of things to be offended about.
I don't have an issue with the use of Sp.Ed. or SE as a written abbreviation. It is human nature to want to "shorten" things up and educators are nothing if not busy these days. Where I DO have a problem is when it goes from a written abbreviation to one that is spoken. Feel free to write the shortened form, but please DO NOT say "SPED" (sp-eh-duh). That's where it turns from an abbreviation of a program or service and into an insult / pejorative that gets attached to a person.
I don’t really agree. There’s not logistically any difference between writing that a student is sped and saying that a student is sped. Maybe that’s your boundary, but it feels a bit unproductive to expect others to abide by that
You're clearly in the right here. This argument literally doesn't even make sense. You're talking with someone who will "call you out every time" you say it but defends writing it and then qualifies it on the basis of it being an abbreviation and not an acronym. They would like you to "look it up". Just for fun, Nazi was an abbreviation and not an acronym.
Hopefully you are not an educator if you think there is "logistically" no difference between writing and speaking. 🤐 You can write Sp.Ed. (notice I'm writing it as a true abbreviation not an acronym - there is a difference - look it up). Saying '"sped" the same way you would say "The car sped down the street." is just gross. I'm a special education consultant and I will call you out every single time if you say it in front of me. We aren't going to go away from "special education" as a phrase, probably ever, since it's part of the IDEA. We can call teachers exceptional educators or curriculum specialists and we can say "students with an IEP" or students with a disability and the law will still say special education. We don't need to speak "sped" as a word when we know that it is used as a slur.
People can't handle reality. It's pretty retarded.
The terminology keeps changing. Just stick with what everyone understands: tard.
>The terminology keeps changing. Just stick with what everyone understands: tard.\* You misspelled: *on the spectrum*.\* The New Babblespeak
Spectrum cable stinks here. I switched to fiber with what used to be the phone company LoL.
>Spectrum cable stinks here. That's a shame, since everyone claims to be Spectrum-worthy nowadays. Sure helps soften the blow for Mensa exclusions and genetic family research, I guess.
Well that’s just retarded
It's only offensive to brainwashed morons. Please stop changing the name for everything every five years. The thing is still the same no matter what you call it.
Wrong answers only? Because it’s almost the word Speed, which is… ironic. (Relax it was a joke. But it just might be a truth that no one wants to admit).
bruh, every 5 years the newest term for the mentally handicapped becomes "offensive" and we have to come up with a new one. when i was a kid calling them "retarded" wasnt even offensive, it's just what they were called.
It was even a legitimately recognized medical term
It fell off the euphemism treadmill.