Another "R" Word

Here's another "R" word I don't particularly care to hear, RETARDED. Unfortunately it's a word I hear daily and often multiple times in a day. Mind you, I do work with teenagers, but they are not the only offenders.
This isn't a word I came to dislike as a result of having Parker, and I don't even doubt that I have also used this word many times in the past.
Pre-Parker, I would gently admonish my students by telling them that "retarded" people, people who could not help being born with a mental disability or people who were impacted through an accident, don't really have much of a choice about their mental abilities. What they really meant was "stupid" or "dumb." I know, I know, not much better and still name calling, but stupid can be attributed to any person or group while retarded conjures up images of a specific group of people who have intellectual and physical disabilities.
Post-Parker, I still gently admonish and then throw in that my own son has an intellectual disability and that I personally take offense to the use of that word. Most often I get a wide-eyed look of shock followed by an apology which often times included something like, "Well, I didn't mean him."
That's why I love this little PSA from Lauren Potter who plays Becky on GLEE. How many other words do people use with the caveat of "I didn't mean 'him,' or 'her,' or 'them.'" There have been occasions during my life in which people have disparaged Asians during their conversations with me. When I point this out, they say, "I didn't mean you." Is that because I'm only half? Or because they just see me as American? Then who did they mean? My mother?
Name calling with words that are used as labels for specific groups of people is hurtful, insensitive, and off-putting. I would include "gay" in this category as well as "girl." Using "gay" as an interchangeable adjective for "stupid" is, well, stupid. They are not interchangeable and insinuate that being gay is a bad thing. I also object to the insinuation that being a girl is a bad thing with comments such as, "Don't scream like a girl," "You're acting like a girl," "You throw like a girl."
So there you have it, my Sunday Soapbox.