Disability Services Minister Stephen Dawson today helped disability service provider, Avivo launch its ‘R word’ campaign which seeks to eliminate the use of the R word – ‘retard’.
The R word is hurtful and demeaning to people with disability, and their family and friends and carers but is still used prolifically in society and particularly on social media where it appears about every five seconds.
As part of the digital campaign, a selection of Twitter users who write the R word will be specifically targeted with a tweet including one of the 12 campaign videos, featuring a person with disability or a family member or carer sharing their personal experiences with the word. The tweet also directs users to the campaign website with more information and education about the use and meaning of the word.
The campaign, which involves a wider social media strategy highlighting the inappropriate use of the R word, was developed by Avivo with the help of marketing agency, Marketforce.
Everyone is encouraged to visit the website (https://therword.com.au), watch the videos, share the campaign on social media, stop using the R word and speak up to those who do.