Words

Here's a speech I wrote as the keynote speaker for an awards luncheon the other day, for a group called Advocacy In Media. These are folks who are trying to educate the press on the correct terminology when writing about people with disabilities. It's a subject near and dear to me.

"Thank you. I am honored to be here for the first Advocacy In Media awards luncheon. Because we are talking about 2 things I love very much: Words and my daughter Jillian. I have been writing sports columns for 20 years, the last 14 at The Enquirer. For better or worse, I talk for a living as well, on 700 WLW, weeknights 6-9. Call me.

Jillian is an 18-year-old high school junior, with Down Syndrome. Notice I didnt say she "suffers'' from Down Syndrome. If Jillian "suffers'' from anything, it's listening to me: Do your homework, clean your room, turn the music down. And make sure your boyfriend keeps his hands to himself.

She isn't "retarded'' either. At least no more than the rest of us. Heaven help the next person who refers to her as "Mongoloid.'' The next day, the paper will refer to me as "accused murderer.''

Words remain our most powerful weapons, good and bad. Words soothe and irritate, move and shake. Barack Obama might be our next president because, to many, his words have created for him an image his experience never could. People have called him the new JFK, because his words carry a message of hope and change.

What if, instead of being Barack Obama, presidential candidate, he was Barack Obama, child of a mixed marriage raised by a white mother? Might that change the way some see him?

What if someone looked at me and instead of referring to me as Paul Daugherty, sports writer and talk show host, they called me Paul Daugherty, bigmouthed white guy who writes a lousy column and talks too much. (OK, some people do refer to me that way. But you get the point.)

I wouldnt be living in a palatial estate with servants painting my toes.

My wife and I have spent years trying to break down barriers in school, barriers there forever, partly because the image of kids with Down Syndrome was inaccurate. Why? Because of words. Words create pereceptions. Perceptions harden into reality. If we can't change perceptions, nothing we do matters.

You are the first line of attack. Your words change the perceptions. They can shape a new reality. Better than before. My wife and I have spent 18 years feeling like Daniel Boone. There isn't a trail we havent blazed, a brain full of stereotypes we haven't tried to wash. We can't do it alone. Thanks for your words and your consideration. Thanks for helping create a new and better reality.