NEARLY 70 per cent of teachers have heard youngsters using derogatory terms for disabled children or children with special educational needs, a new survey has found.
The research, by the Anti-Bullying Alliance for the National Children's Bureau, has been released to mark Anti-Bullying Week.
Teachers have heard children saying "spaz", "spastic", "retard" or "mong".
More than a third were heard using it in casual conversation, and the same proportion were heard using the words as an insult.
Mor than half (55 per cent) of teachers heard children using the words at a disabled child or a child with special educational needs.
The Anti-Bullying Alliance is calling on schools to "recognise the bullying of disabled children and those with special educational needs and take action to stop the bullying of all children."
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