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From left, first-year School of Medicine students Maxwell Kruse, Laurel Banach and Alexander Buslov help coordinate the UMMS Best Buddies chapter. |
Members of the UMass Medical School Best Buddies chapter joined others around the country this week urging the public to stop using words in a negative way that can be hurtful to people with disabilities.
“We want people to be more mindful about the language they use on a daily basis and how much of an impact they can have on people’s lives,” said Alex Buslov, a first-year student in the School of Medicine.
An event Wednesday in the lobby of the Albert Sherman Center coincided with the national Spread the Word to End the Word campaign, an effort focused on educating people about how using words such as “retarded” in a derogatory way is supporting the stigma that people with development disabilities face every day.
“We want to start a conversation about how harmful the word can be,” said Buslov, who coordinates the UMMS Best Buddies chapter with fellow first-year SOM students Laurel Banach and Maxwell Kruse. First-year MD-PhD student Erica Kwiatkowski is also a coordinator.
“I think the word has changed from a medical term to a really hurtful word. For me to not use that word, and to encourage others to not use it, is a way that I can try to take that hurt from people struggling with mental handicaps,” said Melissa McCarthy, a first-year SOM student.
“I’ve done a lot of work with children with intellectual disabilities and I know firsthand a lot of the struggles they go through. I really feel that I should help and show my support,” said Michael Gaffney, a first-year SOM student.
The UMMS Best Buddies chapter works to promote the acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities. It pairs students and faculty with adults with intellectual disabilities in the community and arranges monthly social events to bring people together to just have fun. For more information about the chapter visit its Facebook page.
