USING shocking images or hard hitting words to highlight a campaign can sometimes offend people and bring about criticism.

But it is nothing to the offence and misery caused to the people on the receiving end of discrimination and verbal abuse.

Sometimes, like in the case of the Enable campaign, it requires people to be confronted with the words used to bring about an understanding of how hurtful they actually are.

Using derogatory terms, like the ones repeated in the campaign, to describe people with mental or physical disabilities is never acceptable and should not be tolerated by anyone.

Like the words used to insult people in terms of race or religion they can be dismissed as banter, but usually only by the person who is making the remark.

Those who are subjected to the abuse rarely if ever consider it to be harmless banter and it can cause lasting damage.

Hopefully, by the Enable campaign using these words to highlight that ignorance, they can be banished from use in the future and people with disabilities are respected and treated as equals.