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Alan Cobo-Lewis is the parent of two adult children, one of whom has a disability. He is also on the University of Maine faculty, where he is associate professor of psychology and director of the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies. Monique Stairs is the executive director of Speaking Up For Us, Maine’s self-advocacy network made up of individuals living with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The authors’ views are their own.
The “R-word” is back. A term that has been replaced in respectful discourse by “intellectual disability” has reared its ugly head. Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner has apologized for his recent use of the “R-word”. Slurs on X involving the “R-word” more than tripled after President Donald Trump used the slur in a Thanksgiving Day Truth Social post.
Adverse consequences abound. In a randomized controlled experiment (the gold standard for this type of study), college undergraduates exposed to the slur expressed lower tolerance toward people with intellectual disabilities. Psychologically, experiencing ableist microaggressions is associated with poor mental health. Stigma creates an “invisible wall,” even leading people with disabilities to delay or avoid healthcare to avoid further stigmatization.
Between 2009 and 2019, Special Olympics campaigned to “Spread the Word to End the Word” and more than 6 million people pledged to eliminate it.
The “R-word” was not originally a slur, but through a process called the “euphemism treadmill” it’s become offensive, because the concepts offensive words refer to remain stigmatized even as the terms themselves change. That’s why it was important that, after Special Olympics saw such success in their language campaign, they moved on toward the broader goal of fully including people with disabilities in the broader society. Popular initiatives like unified sports and related programs that Special Olympics champions are associated with improved high school graduation rates among students both with and without disabilities.
Maine was deeply involved in the “R-word” work. In 2012, then-Gov LePage signed into law an emergency measure to “Implement the Recommendations of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Maine Developmental Disabilities Council Regarding Respectful Language.” This law eliminated the “R-word” from Maine statute and required executive agencies to also remove it from individual state agency rules when they’re “opened up” for revisions for other purposes. The idea was to remove the slur without incurring costs for additional rulemaking.
In late April, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services finally removed the “R-word” from the MaineCare rule on targeted case management. But it still lingers in too many other rules, a decade and a half after the Legislature and the executive branch took a public stand against it.
For example, the “R-word” slur still exists even in the MaineCare Eligibility Manual — even though that rule was opened up for other purposes and amended as recently as April 2025. In other words, Maine’s executive branch has only partially fulfilled its legal obligations to remove the slur from rule when rules are otherwise opened up for revision.
This slow progress is why it is so exciting that Gov. Janet Mills signed Public Law 2025 chapter 384 last year, giving Maine’s secretary of state authority to remove disrespectful terms from state agency rules without going through the traditional rulemaking process, provided that the state agency requests the secretary to do so. This excellent bill was introduced by Rep Amy Kuhn, D-Falmouth, at the request of the office of Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.
Secretary Bellows’s office has already requested executive branch agencies to find the “R-word” slur in their rules and to formally ask her office to remove it in accordance with the new law. We urge Gov. Mills to direct the agencies to cooperate forthwith, so that Maine can finally complete this decade-and-a-half work this spring or summer.
Thanks to Secretary Bellows and her team for being so proactive to solve a longstanding problem, following up to complete this important work.
