Celebrate What's Different: Why do certain words make a comeback, and why does it matter?

If you’ve been on TikTok or scrolling Instagram reels lately, you may have noticed something troubling: the reappearance of an old, harmful word—‘retard’—often slipped into jokes, memes, or comments. On X, the term has gone from being nearly unused in 2020 to millions of posts being made containing the word in the last few months. For many, it might feel like ‘just a word.’ But for individuals with intellectual disabilities, their families, and advocates, it carries decades of pain, stigma, and exclusion. In this episode, we’re asking a big question: Why do certain words make a comeback, and why does it matter? Our guests include Barber National Institute executive vice president and All About Autism blog author Dr. Maureen Barber-Carey and Brown Side of Autism bloggers brothers David and Daniel Gillespie. Daniel is also the author of a new autobiography titled Echo in the Silence: The Noise that Broke the World, now available on Amazon.