Say Life: "Maybe sometimes we have to be open to reach everyone"

“This program contains a very shocking word. The R-word. I understand this will be upsetting to many. it's damaging. So I said to Channel 4, let's use that word in the title and I hope that at the end of this movie people will think twice about using that word again. That's what comedian Rosie Jones says at the start of her new Channel 4 documentary, Am I a R*tard?

The online disability community has already had its fill of Mary Whitehouse on the news, with three much-loved and respected young disabled influencers pulling a short clip from the film, expressing their pain over the use of the word and receiving a outpouring of support, mostly from people with disabilities, on social media.

Should we use the word in any social context? It's difficult. Rosie is one of a very small handful of people in mainstream media who are very visibly disabled. She's part of an even smaller tribe that's downright outspoken and deals with issues head on - in a confrontational way.

There is no doubt that people with disabilities are generally not listened to by people without disabilities. From cradle to grave, our lives are filled with injustice, prejudice against us, and a lack of the support we need to thrive. As much as I can understand the softer approach of many, arguably the majority, and often younger people, who choose more reasoned means of protest and demands for social change, but I come from a generation where we are more direct . Different shots for different people. Not everyone responds to a singular way of being communicated. Nor a gentle, compassionate. Rarely has a movement for social change started with a politeness. Only has succeeded so far. Social change must, so often alas, begin with confrontation. . . .

I've also noticed that some of the loudest and most direct disabled people in the public eye, like Rosie, tend to have cerebral palsy - think Lost Voice Guy Lee Ridley, whose humor is very close to the bone, courting negative stereotypes of people with disabilities such as being "only for parking" or having the disabled person emoji - a drooling yellow face with googly eyes. Or Ian Dury, singing Spasticus Autisticus. Kurt and Courtney levels of call-it-in-the-face punk rock showdown there.

Perhaps such a visible level of disability underscores the need to stand and yell in the face of the attackers, a steely glint in your eyes, refusing to be the first to look away. But it also forces attackers to meet our eyes. We cannot gently scroll past such an open confrontation. We have to make do when called like that.

Perhaps it is the most visibly disabled people who experience the most overt forms of prejudice. Not just education, housing, travel, and job setbacks, but name-calling, shoving, spitting, burglary, having our cars scratched and trashed, our mobility gear stolen — every move bully classics by powerless able-bodied people to target people they perceive to be less powerful. Rosie is one of those people. She doesn't use the word to denigrate. She sends it back to those who hurt her, a Molotov cocktail to the conscience.

By Rachel Charlton-Dailey, Guest Editor and Founder of The Unwritten

Disabled Britain: Doing It For Ourselves is a week-long series airing on the Daily Mirror's print and digital platforms, showcasing the lives of people with disabilities and the issues close to our hearts.

The articles were designed by people with disabilities, written by people with disabilities and the photographs - where possible - taken by people with disabilities.

Throughout this week, we aim to change your mind about how you view people with disabilities.

After all, there are 14 million of us, and we're not all the same, it's time the public stopped listening to lazy stereotypes and saw people with disabilities in all their glory.

For more on The Mirror's week-long series, click here

I used some of these words. Before I was disabled, I used them, not directed at people, but casually in conversation, with no idea of ​​their impact on those whose lives they profoundly affect. I'm usually not bothered by mean words personally. The sticks and stones mentality has more power than allowing words to be hurtful. Like...