To think that calling someone "spa***c" is offensive?

[IglooLists]

I'm in a parenting group on FB that describes itself as a "respectful parenting community". Someone posted for some advice about her child's behaviour, and described him as "goes spastic". There was nothing in the post to suggest the child has any medical condition. I responded with some advice, and also said that I was struggling to get past the use of "spastic", and questioned the moderation of the group. Cue several responses to me suggesting that I don't know what the word means, it's my problem if I interpret it as offensive, it's just a word, etc etc. I felt like I'd stepped into a parallel universe!
Am I some kind of professionally offended snowflake or is that an incredibly offensive way to describe someone?

[Title amended by MNHQ]

I hope I've helped. It's some years since I was enlightened to the (non) history of the word there.

My American friends used to (probably still do, but they now try not to when they talk to me) refer to their kids being over excitable as 'spazzing out'. I was beyond horrified before this was all explained to me.

It's also been helpful to my friends to know never to use the word when they visit the UK, where the derivation is very very different.

I would also say that while retard is still used in the US, it's on the decline. People are starting to recognise that it's seen as offensive.

While retardation still has a place in medical definitions, and talking about someone being retarded might well be around for some time, until medical professionals over there stop using it, retard as a noun is gradually coming into 'hmmm, this probably isn't a good way to describe someone' territory.

I’m in the states, it has always been derogatory here!!

As someone with CP I find the word very upsetting, I understand Americans use it differently, but it makes me flinch still

stokesauce they were 11/12 years old 😖

Happy days 😕

Just because in the US people don't think it's offensive, it doesn't mean it isn't. Where do you think they got the word from and it's not used in a complimentary way is it? As somebody else said, it's a term that comes from a disability and is used to describe someone behaving in an undesirable way. When it was used as an insult when I was young, it wasn't used to mean someone was having muscle spasms, it was to liken someone to a person with a learning disability, so it didn't really make sense, but the intention was clear.

Wow, that's a very 80s insult! I didn't even realise people used it these days. It was out of favour as a medical terrible back in the 80s.

I have noticed a come back of medical terms as insults. As well as "spastic/spazz", "mong' seems to be a thing again, and I have seen "cretin" a lot on twitter/X. 😔

Name calling is supposed to be offensive isn't it, that's the point?

Obviously, because she is likely not to be ignorant of current medical terminology.

My son has cerebral palsy and has spasticity in his arms and legs. He's starting secondary school in September, and I have been trying to prepare him for the inevitable bullying by telling him that some children may call him a spastic.

I've told him that if anyone says that, they are extremely silly, because they are describing his muscles and how can he 'be' his muscles. He agrees. Also he says that if anyone calls him 'weird' he will say 'thankyou! I like being weird!'.

Everyone at primary school has been so lovely to him so I am dreading his first bad experience.

No, I'm in the UK.

Perhaps I did shoot from the hip without doing any research. But even if I had known the term wasn't offensive in the States I still would have commented that it's very offensive here, purely because it's an international group and I think it's worth a heads up. As it was, all I said was "I'm struggling to get past the use of 'spastic'", and then when I got a bit of a pile on in response (not from the OP, but from other members) I said "I'm in the UK and in my cultural context it's incredibly offensive, so I was just shocked to see it get past moderation." So it wasn't a particularly aggressive "shot from the hip" 🙂

I'm sorry to hear all of the stories from people who have experienced bullying using this word, and I apologise if I have unearthed painful memories with this thread.
I was mostly just bewildered by how adamant everyone was that it's a perfectly acceptable word and I was the one with the problem.
@readingallthetime I hope your lovely boy gets off to a flying start in September and finds his tribe. It's heart breaking thinking that anyone will be unkind to them 😢

I've told him that if anyone says that, they are extremely silly, because they are describing his muscles and how can he 'be' his muscles. He agrees. Also he says that if anyone calls him 'weird' he will say 'thankyou! I like being weird!'

Love this. I hope school his kind to him, and he keeps his spark ❤️

Thanks @IglooLists and @betterangels !

Luckily he's a very confident and happy boy so far. But I just know that one day his bubble will be burst. However I think he will be resilient and fingers crossed he will have a great time at secondary 🤞

Gypsy/gypo is used a a derogatory term. Much as spastic was, hence the reason Scope changed their name. The Gypsy, Roma and Traveller advisory groups in the UK recognise the differences between the three ethnicities. You can't argue the semantics of using their own name.

These threads are annoying.
the op knows it’s offensive (why else would they ask)
Of course it’s offensive.
I hate it when people pretend it isn’t.
my now adult child has had that word used to bully them.
not because they are disabled, but because their sibling is.

Yes and the title and OP are different. Going spastic may be a medical term.

My daughter was excluded from secondary school in year 10 for using the word, and that was 11 years ago!

I was expelled from a Facebook group for politely pointing out that it’s an offensive term.

There are worse words used to refer to disabled people (I’ve seen the worst one used on this site and was horrified) but I feel it’s unacceptable to use derogatory language where others might be upset by it, even if you might not usually regard a word as offensive in your local culture.

Being aware of other people’s life experiences and how language might have been used against them in the past is a good thing I think, but sadly not everyone on social media does it.

Spastic or "spaz" does not resonate the same way in the US as it does in the UK; it is more like using the word "idiot." There are a lot of reasons for this, one of which is that "spastic" was never generally used in the US for cerebral palsy as it was in the UK. With more globalized discussion, however, more people understand its wider connotations, and it is becoming less acceptable in the US.