Retarded...Really??

UPDATED: visit http://r-word.org/ for more information on this topic.

i must admit...i am one who has, and still do at time (accidentally), used the word retarded in a negative light.
growing up i did not have anyone who was physically or mentally disabled in my family, and i did not see how much this can hurt a person, and honestly, i never really thought about it.
even into my teen years, i didnt think twice about using the word.
until i met jadi.
thats horrible that i spent 18 years of my life in the dark about such situations.
sure i knew they existed...but did i care? nope.
how selfish was i?
over the past few years i have come to know jadi and the rest of her family (and ya know...her sister laura...hahaha) and it has really changed me.
like i mentioned, i do still used the word sometimes, but each time i do, i realize and it kills me that i just said it.
this blog: http://listeningthruthenoise.blogspot.com/2010/03/normal-to-who.html and this blog: http://theredneckmommy.com/2010/03/05/why-you-shouldnt-use-the-r-word/ are both great eye openers to the affects of the r-word, and they really give an inside look to the way that word affects families of a mentally or physically disabled individual.
using this word is just as bad as faggot or nigger or cracker or bitch or any other derogatory term we can use.
how would you feel if people went around calling their non working/stupid/slow/broken whatever a derogatory name about you?