I’ve written before about the significance of language and my concerns about many words used to describe (and deride) people with disabilities. It can be subtle (even the word disability gives me pause). It can be blatant (“You’re such a retard”). It happens at all levels of culture–from politicians to celebrities to my close friends, from teenagers to adults. It’s so widespread, in fact, that it would be easy to dismiss any effort to change it. And yet language matters. Words shape the story of reality.