How do you respond when people ask you if you are ret*d ?

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I would just say "No, I'm not." and that's about it. Can't imagine anyone asking that, though. I sound very smart when I speak, plus I haven't heard such word used seriously (not as an insult) in Canada for many years.

This dog sounds hilarious and I want to scratch his ears. What kind of dog is he?

Also, I have been thought to be "ret*d" by other kids for a lot of my childhood/adolescence. I'm not sure what people think of me now. It bothered me before, but now it makes sense in light of ASD in the sense that, while their means were hardly politically correct, kids were pointing out that I was different from everybody. I've also been told I'm like a robot and like an alien.

A ret*d alien robot.

I'd use my favorite line from the BBC show Sherlock.

Cop: You're a psychopath!...
Sherlock: I'm not a psychopath, I'm a highly functioning sociopath. Do your research.


as*hole: Are you ret*d\ You're ret*d!
Me: I'm not ret*d, I'm a highly functioning autistic. Do your research.

It's completely pointless due to the dysphoric treadmill, as long as the negative connotation exists changing the words isn't going to do anything. They just change the new euphemism into an insult.

What? How intellectually disabled.

That policeman was very rude, and you had the right to be annoyed. But honestly I probably would have held back on showing that I was angry, and replied "I don't understand what you're really asking me, or what you mean by "ret*d". Then I might say that if my dog bit someone and that I was unaware of, let's go see that person so I can either apologize if it was my dog, or clear my dog's reputation if this is a mistake".

In many cases, responding to an offensive or judgmental question with another question, is the best way to diffuse it.

Charles

That policeman was very rude, and you had the right to be annoyed. But honestly I probably would have held back on showing that I was angry, and replied "I don't understand what you're really asking me, or what you mean by "ret*d". Then I might say that if my dog bit someone and that I was unaware of, let's go see that person so I can either apologize if it was my dog, or clear my dog's reputation if this is a mistake".

In many cases, responding to an offensive or judgmental question with another question, is the best way to diffuse it.

Charles

I either respond "I am not" or someone else I know beside me says I am not.

I've never been asked if I was ret*d, but if I ever am, I'll simply roll my eyes at the person and walk away. Why bother wasting your breath on someone that ignorant?

A yellow lab.

The policeman even petted the dog and said "he does not seem mean".

He sounds awesome and I'd like to take a nap with him on a nice soft rug.

No one has ever asked me if I am ret*d (probably because I talk rather formally, with lots of big words, and the more nervous/upset I am, the more words I spill out.)

I was asked once or twice in school if I was in the Emotionally/Behaviorally Handicapped class.

The dog is just acting like a dog, and did nothing wrong.

In this particular case, the best answer to "Are you ret*d?" Would be "How is that relevant to this issue?" (or, if that is not how you talk, "What does that have to do with whether or not my dog attacked someone?")

I've had people throughout my lifetime treat me as if I am ret*d. it goes either one extreme or the other. When I talk about my special interest (primarily psychology) I sound incredibly smart and some psychologists actually admitted that I know more than them (unless they were playing along or to make me feel good about myself, I don't trust people) and I taught them new things. I am also highly technical when I talk about my special interest, using all the medical terms. But on the other side, if I am not talking about my special interest I DO sound ret*d, and people have treated me like it. Sometimes they talk down to me as if i was a little kid. Or smart as a little kid. Talking to me in that high pitched sound, using simplistic language, implying that I don't know that much. To prove I am not that intelligent, I have been in remedial classes all my life, including in college. During an IQ test, I have scored in the Borderline Intellectual Functioning range, actually all but one IQ test scored in that range. The one that scored in the normal range (101) was fake. The reason is that in the vocabulary section, I used the words in a sentence rather than giving the definitions. I couldn't give a simple definition in any of the words. Of course using the word in a sentence does indicate I know what it means, but that's not how the test works. But the person administering the test gave me full credit for it. So it increased my score. But I also score in the less than 1% percentile in the coding section. So, yes people have implied low intelligence and my IQ score does prove it. On the other side, I can sound smart if someone talks to me about my special interest. In Junior High school, the teachers called me ret*d and stupid. I also can't figure out simple tasks. My vocabulary is that of a 4th grader (my estimate.. also not counting my special interest).

I've never been asked if I was ret*d. Sometimes I call myself ret*d, but that's just out of frustration and poor self-acceptance.

I often get assumed that I have learning difficulties. I don't mind.

To be fair, if I was on my lawn minding my own business and someone let their dog come unto the lawn to sniff me, I'd hurl insult after insult at them till they broke down crying. Dogs just unnerve me like nothing else and the perpetrator would have the insults coming in spades. I'd use so many cuss words I'd make a sailor blush.

People on the street with their dogs unleashed always say, "Oh, he doesn't bite." Well, how am I supposed to know that? I don't read dogs minds.