Lawmakers join effort to curb use of 'R-word'

Excerpt from DesMoines Register: (click for entire article)

Lynn Holtzman wants Iowans to know something about her. “I’m not stupid,” she said.

Her friend Jessica Evans nodded her head in agreement. “I’m not stupid, either,” she said.

Both Des Moines women have been diagnosed with mental retardation, but that label doesn’t define everything about them. And they’re smart enough to know that other people shouldn’t throw around the word “retarded” as an insult to mean that something or someone is dumb.