Is it normal that i can't stand being around mentally-challenged people?

It is hard to imagine that there are people out there with these conditions. The best thing we can do if we can't help them is wish them the best, and, if you're religious, pray for them. Just remember this, they are people like you and me, and thereby should be treated as just. As long as you know that much, yes, it is normal to think this way!

gonna be honest... i just feel really awkward and embarrassed around them... when they talk to me i feel really put on the spot...

I feel ya, bro.

It's completely acceptable for someone to dislike, or even outright say they hate and rant against, children or babies. Yet when it's a child or baby in an adult body, it's suddenly "bigotry." Segregation in school based on physical age is the norm, but segregating based on mental age is "bigotry." Not trusting a nine-year-old you don't know to do something important is common sense, but not trusting a mentally handicapped person you don't know with something important is "ableism."

I don't think most people genuinely hate or wish harm on the mentally handicapped. It's more the fact that they're essentially children, yet we're told we have to treat them like an ethnic group. It's not disabled people themselves, it's the stupid politics surrounding them.

mentally challenged people don't know that they're mentally challenged, so i don't feel bad.

I'm the same way. I was going to apply for a job to help them, and I realized after turning in my application that I couldn't. I'd be crying the whole time.

Just think of their world and how, while different than yours, it is probably not different to them. It is what they have come to know, and they probably have a more positive outlook on life because of what they 'can't understand'

Ignoring the harsh facts of life doesn't make it go away.