CHICAGO — A mother from Indiana found herself in the middle of a nasty back-and-forth with a comedian and his fans on social media after she spoke up about his controversial act.

Tom Segura’s standup routine includes the word “retarded” and a joke about Down syndrome.

It offended many in the special needs community, including Alyse Biro, who has a 2-year-old daughter with Down syndrome.

On Netflix’s Facebook page, she asked the streaming service to remove the offensive language from Segura’s comedy special and ended up getting attacked online by his fans.

“Once he posted it on his Instagram, I then received hundreds of comments and messages of how I am ‘r,’ how my daughter is ‘r,’ how I should kill myself,” Biro told WGN Morning News Wednesday.

A petition was started on Change.org urging Netflix to act. It has already collected up to nearly 48,000 signatures, with a goal of 50,000, backed by National Down Syndrome organizations, according to WXIN.

WGN reached out to Segura’s management to see if he had a response to the petition or the way his fans reacted. They said they would follow up but at the time of this posting they have not.

For more information on the petition and Down Syndrome support groups, visit dsaofnwi.org.