Spread the Word: Inclusion
About Spread the Word: Inclusion
We think the world would be better if everyone were included. Around the world, exclusion and discrimination continue to divide people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. We are changing that with grassroots action for inclusion. That’s Spread the Word.
Founded by two youth leaders in 2009 as Spread the Word to End the Word, the campaign focused its first 10 years on addressing a particularly powerful form of exclusion: the word ‘retard(ed)’. Over 10 years, leaders and self-advocates collected millions of digital and physical pledges to end the R-word. Each was a personal commitment to acknowledge the hurt caused by the R-word and to be respectful in the words and actions taken towards people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. With leadership from Special Olympics and Best Buddies, and support from hundreds of other advocacy organizations, the campaign grew from a handful events in 2009 to reach thousands of schools by 2018.
In 2019, Spread the Word to End the Word became Spread the Word, with a focus not just on the elimination of a word but on the creation of a new reality: inclusion for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The global engagement campaign remains committed to empowering grassroots leaders to change their communities, schools, and workplaces, now through a call to their peers to take action for inclusion. With this change, Spread the Word will give community leaders around the world the tools needed to create socially inclusive places to learn, work, and live.
In 2009, this campaign was founded on the audacious belief that grassroots action could end the discrimination and exclusion faced by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and replace it with inclusion. This remains our guiding principle. The first 10 years of Spread the Word to End the Word have only made us more confident in this belief. But they have also shown how much more work remains to be done.
Why Pledge?
Spread the Word is founded on an audacious belief, a simple observation, and an urgent goal.
Our Belief
The world would be better if all people were valued, respected, embraced, included. Included in the games we play and the friends we make. Included in our schools, our workplaces, and our communities.
Our Observation
Despite the best efforts of many, groups around the world remain left out. One of these groups is people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a group made of more than 200 million people, representing every country, belief system, sexual orientation, gender expression, race, and ethnicity.
Our Goal
We aim to disrupt this cycle of isolation and exclusion with grassroots action for inclusion.
You can take action today to make your school, your workplace, your community, and your world more inclusive. Seek out someone who has been left out, isolated, or bullied. Sit with them. Welcome them. Be a friend. Be a teammate. The actions that you take for inclusion are unique to you, but they contribute to a shared global goal. Our individual actions can combine to create a new and inclusive world. Indeed, they are the only thing that can.
Make your pledge and take your action for a more inclusive world. Join millions who have done the same. And spread the word.
Festival of Inclusion
An interactive day of fun & acceptance for the whole family!
The Festival of Inclusion started in 2020 as a way to kick off the Spread the Word Week in Rochester, NY. The Festival of Inclusion is a day open to the entire community and filled with fun, acceptance, and respect for everyone in the family! Each year the Golisano Foundation, Special Olympics, NY and the local Best Buddies Chapter works to unite the WNY community for an afternoon of engaging games and interactive experiences. This event offers a wonderful chance to discover the numerous committed agencies and services offered in our area, highlighting their inclusive services and promoting acceptance while encouraging respectful behavior in all aspects of life.
2024 Festival Materials
2025 Save the Date
The 2025 Festival of Inclusion will be held on Sunday, March 1, 2025 at the Golisano Training Center on Nazareth University Campus. More details will be provided as they are become available closer to the day of the event.
Follow us on Facebook
For the most up to date information, follow the Festival of Inclusion Facebook Page. Festival details, singups, dates, and specific details will be shared each year through this page.
Resources
Find all of the tools you need to host year-round your own Spread the Word Inclusion event.
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