Mentally Retarded

This is a ongoing debate across the country, state-by-state as well.
A friend asked me recently how I felt about it since at least one of my sons has this label in his school records. And I've found government agencies love to use this as an umbrella term for many different illness or diseases. I had to take some time and think about it, but this is my take on the whole thing--today.

To be honest, I hadn't heard about this until my friend pointed out the stories. And truth be told, I will use the word on occasion without thinking in a sentence like this: "I can't believe that person just pulled out in front of all those cars--that's retarded." I can't think of the last time I called someone retarded. Even when they ARE, I usually say "slow".
If I find myself having said the word, I immediately feel guilty now. My kids have to have certain labels in their files for some assistance we get through school and the first day I saw son#2's as MR, it staggered me. I NEVER thought of him as mentally retarded. He knows what I am saying, he is aware of so much---retarded? But I realize now it's an IQ level standing. If your IQ falls below a certain number, they label you MR. Sad but true that it's not based on skills. /shrug

I don't find too much offense in the word itself just in the way it might be used, as in if you're calling my kid a retard or retarded, I might find we don't agree and I want to punch you in the nose.
But there is obviously still a level of retardation out there in the world. To be frank, my dad grew using the N word and not in the way it's used today. More in the way of identifying someone's work ethic/color of their skin.
He had to learn it wasn't acceptable now a days and meant something different to different generations.
I think the same can be said of the word retarded. We've grown, evolved as a nation...let's hope we can all find a more precise word to label someone or describe them in this day and age.