Ban the R Word Now! People with intellectual disabilities are people first. A child with mental retardation is just that…a child first…calling a person with mental retardation a “retard” or “retarded” is a form of dehumanization. By recognizing that a person with an intellectual disability is a person first, and confirming that awareness openly by using “people-first language” you are respecting not only the individual with the disability but the entire intellectual disability community.