With Special Olympics Approach, Lincolnites Struggle To Find Leas Offensive Name To Call 'Them'

Story by Jacob Zlomke 

| Published Apr 27, 2010

Normally it takes something like a Husker football game for Lincoln’s population to grow by thousands. But this summer, weeks away from the Huskers’ opening game, something else will be bringing that many fans, competitors and volunteers to the city. Something, some say, much more special than Husker football.
The Special Olympics will bring approximately 3,000 athletes to Lincoln from July 18 to 23. While the citizens of Lincoln seem generally excited for the opportunity to help out and for the attention it will put on the city, many are left with a slight uneasiness.
“What do we call them [the athletes]?” Lincoln resident Joan Marcus asked. “It seems like everything is off limits these days. And I think that’s something that is a legitimate concern to residents of Lincoln while the Special Olympics get closer.”
Marcus threw out a number of ideas, all that she soon discounted as “too offensive.”
“There is ‘retard,’ but that’s been blacklisted since the 80s,” Marcus said. “There is also ‘special,’ but you don’t want to tell someone to their face that they’re ‘special’ in that way. 'Mentally handicapped' almost gets there, but it’s just too arduous to say, you know?”
Tom Richter, another Lincoln resident, expressed the same concern.
“I know Rose Kennedy called them angels. But that’s dumb. They’re clearly not angels anymore than you or I,” Richter said. “I mean we don’t want to single them out do we?”
Dr. Joseph Menlaus, who studies the mentally disabled in culture, said this sentiment is common among cities selected to host the Special Olympics.
“Entire towns are torn apart by this very thing — finding the least offensive way to refer to a retarded athlete,” Menlaus said, “and for very good reason. We wouldn’t want anyone, handicapped or otherwise, to know that they’re different in any kind of way whatsoever.”
Lynda Myers, parent of a Special Olympic swimmer, said sometimes she calls her daughter “one with special needs, or mentally disabled, or just special,” but all of those seem to upset her daughter, Marie.
“I get called ‘special’ a lot, and sometimes ‘retard’ by kids at school,” Marie said, “but I don’t really care, I know I’m different. What’s wrong with just calling me Marie?”
Myers said Marie had proposed this idea in the past, but Myers has generally known better.
“I know I can call her Marie,” Myers said, “and I do. But what about in general reference to, you know, her people? That’s something she just doesn’t understand. She really is special.”