Shows how ingrained it is in the culture doesn't it. Like racism, it takes a while to root out slurs.
When my daughter was in elementary school the teacher did a presentation on different kinds of impairments to a class without any social consciousness raising. It was a pure medical model spiel accompanied by a film.
When recess came one boy did a spastic rap on the playground with kids gathered round laughing. My daughter knows better cause I have an impairment and so do some of my friends. She was not only horrified but tramatized by their insensitivity and dehumanization of people who have spasticity. She, being raised to treat others like she would treat anyone else, was quite shocked to see this display.
What is worse than the kid making fun of spasticity was that the teachers did nothing to stop him. Later I wrote a letter to the principal asking for justification of their sloppiness and ineptitude at introducing disability to grade schoolers. I got an apology but it was a typical liberal pity type apology.
If the school had a few kids with disabilities in the classrooms the picture might be quite different -- but alas it made no effort what so ever to include them, in fact, it dissuaded at least one child's parents whom I happened to know, maybe more that I don't know about. She has cerebral palsy and was accepted at UCLA and other colleges when she became of age. marta --