Twice a week, I teach a service learning course for the freshmen SUCCESS students. SUCCESS (Students United for Campus-Community Engagement for Post-Secondary Success, a partnership between UMBC and the Maryland Department of Disabilities) is the first 4-year college experience for young adults with intellectual disabilities in Maryland. This semester, the students chose to advocate for the R-Word campaign, which asks people to stop using the term ‘retard’ as the first step toward creating more accepting attitudes and communities for all. I have never seen my students so determined and impassioned as they have been these past two weeks... (continue reading)