Special Olympics Research Paper

One organization in particular that has large involvement within the community to help disabled kids is this organization called Miracle League of the Triangle. This organization is country-wide organization that is located in multiple parts of the country. In particular, one location is in Cary, North Carolina. This organization is specifically related to the sport of baseball. This league operates like a real baseball league where there are multiple teams and each team plays against each other. Each player has some sort of disability where it’s a physical disorder or a mental disorder. The good thing about the involvement is that each player is assisted by a person known as a BUDDY where they help the player run the bases and hit the ball. It’s a real bonding moment for both the player and the BUDDY. It shows that the BUDDY really cares for the player and it makes the player feel more appreciated. The mission statement for the league is to create positive life experiences for children and adults with special needs and for their families through baseball. The league also has some core values in which they take and consider in this organization. Some values are that everything that is done should be player-centered and create an accepting, safe, and fun environment. The world sometimes responds in a ways not to accept people with special needs because they think they don’t fit into the society so they simply exclude them from most activities or other involvements in the community. To change this issue, the leagues organizes the baseball games to give kids a chance to participate in the community even if the league is a specific minority group. It gets these kids more involved to have exposure of interesting things in the world. The league gives everyone the opportunity to participate which creates unity among each other. The BUDDY system helps the staff, board, coaches

This event happens once a year and takes place at our high school stadium. Special needs kids come from all around my community to compete in events that best suit their physical or intellectual disabilities. It is truly astounding to see a whole community come together to support these kids. At this past year's Olympics I volunteered as a peer buddy and my responsibilities included walking my buddy, Luke, to his different events and making sure he was having a good time. Luke won first place in the ball throw and second place in the 100 meter dash. I loved seeing how happy he was when he was handed his ribbons and I was so fortunate to have been able to spend the day with

Cosgrove, Ben. The black power salute that rocked the 1968 olympics. Time, 27 September 2014. Web. 28 August, 2016.

Mike Fink was born with Spina Bifida which is incomplete closure of the spinal column during the first month of fetal development. He runs wheelchair basketball and is involved with Coastal Adoptive Sports. His parents taught him, he can do whatever he want to do. He has been doing jiu jitsu for 2 years and is a double white belt and has been competing in both able body and disability matches his record is 3-3. He can’t feel right leg and sometimes it gets in his way when he is competing. His coach has never coached someone with a disability. Mike was the first disable person he has coached.

Over the weekend i did the last seven hours of community service at the special olympics hosted in hampton bays. During the event i helped out in a bunch of events. First, all of the volunteers lined up at the tunnel and cheered each team on running through. Next me and the rest of the volunteers took their seats for the opening ceremonies where the athletes sang the national anthem and carried out the torch. After that i went back to my tent where i would help the athletes in different events like the softball throw, javelin throw and tennis ball throw. All of the baseball players were assigned the same tent while other volunteers helped out with the 100m sprints and relay races on the track. My job was to take each athlete with a clipboard down to the place where they would throw, then record their distance where the ball first touched the ground, and then bring the athletes to the scoring tables. After bringing them to the table, i would return to the tent with the scoreboard and wait for the next athlete to repeat the process. Some athletes could throw the balls 3 feet and some could throw the balls further than some of the baseball players.

As a human with no physical or learning disabilities, the culture and lifestyle of those with disabilities is still new to me. After watching Murderball, a documentary that focuses on the U.S. quadriplegic rugby team, I was happy to find out that there are still many opportunities for disabled individuals to participate in sports. Through dedication and training, it seemed that anything was possible for these athletes. Unfortunately, it appears that those with mental/learning disabilities are not presented with as equal opportunities for success in sports. Lauren McKeon’s “Why Won’t You Let Me Play?” focuses on the discrimination that takes place within the Special Olympics. After looking at the Paralympics and Special Olympics through the lenses of Murderball and “Why Won’t You Let Me Play”, it has become clear that people with disabilities do not have equal opportunities in sports, but this issue is not only prevalent in sports. Special Olympic athletes seem to face far greater exclusion compared to Paralympic athletes in athletics, daily life, and American culture.

“Let me win, and if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt” The oath made by the courageous, dedicated, honorable men and women of the Special Olympics. Founded in 1968, Special Olympics showed the world that people with disabilities can be valued and respected, contributing members of society.

Disability sports, also known as adaptive sports or parasports, are sports that are strictly for those with disabilities, whether it be physical or mental. These sports were originally used as a means to rehabilitate veterans (Disabled Sports USA); the organization in particular that I am going to focus on is the Lakeshore Foundation.

1. My associations with the word, “disability,” has always revolved around the idea of a person who has physical or mental dysfunction that may prevent them from in engaging in various physical or mental activities. Therefore, I never imagined that a person who is physically disabled would still be able to be athletic. Also, I tend to associate the term, “athlete,” with an individual who is physically capable of engaging in a sport. These associations were formed from my own lack of interactions and experiences with those who are disabled, yet still manage to be athletic. Aside from my own preconceived notions, my generalized prejudices derived from seeing how those within my family were unable to play athletic sports because of their disability. The portrayal of individuals with a disability lacking a wide range of physical movement has also reinforced my

Special Olympics started in 1950s and early 1960s.A woman named Eunice Kennedy Shriver she felt like kids with disabilities were not treated right. She decided to do something about it she made a camp right in her backyard.She wanted everyone to know that Kids with disabilities could play just like everyone else. Not think of what they could

“Intellectual disabilities is a term used to describe a person with certain limitations in cognitive functioning and other skills, including communication and self-care; these limitations can cause a child to develop and learn more slowly or differently” (“Special olympics: About intellectual disabilities”, 2016.). As health care professionals, we reach out to individuals of all populations, which include individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). Individuals with ID have “learning limitations”, therefore our teaching strategies have to be altered to accommodate these limitations (“Special olympics: About intellectual disabilities”, 2016.). The age of the population participating in the Special Olympics is ages eight and up, with two thirds of the athletes being eighteen plus (“Special olympics: The athletes”, 2016.). Due to the wide age variety, it is important to have information simple and direct to accommodate those of all ages. When designing educational materials on smoking prevention and cessation, it is beneficial to be visual when providing the information and to be interactive with the population. The goal of this presentation is that the athletes understand the effects and consequences of tobacco use and use this knowledge to avoid smoking or discontinue smoking.

I have a younger brother who has Cerebral Palsy. He also has a pacemaker because he experienced a 3rd degree heart block when he was born. He loves sports. The problem is he, like many other disabled kids, believe they’re unable to play sports. He has been the manager for all the athletic teams that my older brother and I have been on. Just being the manager was very hard for him. He was a part of the team, but always had to watch from the sidelines, never actually getting the opportunity to participate in the games. Seeing his feeling of heartache and sadness over the years motivated our family to look for ways he can participate in sports. We found Para Sport Athletics. Para Sport Organizations are teams or groups of disabled athletes who

The primary responsibility of the Special Olympics is it's most important asset, it's people. The organization needs to continue to coordinate human resource activities toward management, planning, performance, career development, and training. The Special Olympics is fueled by a growing base of athletes, their families, hundreds of thousands of coaches, volunteers, fans and philanthropic supporters, and dedicated staff, all operating within a network of 230 accredited programs globally. Each program is an independent entity, with its own governing body, professional staff, opportunities and

The advances in sport science have created an opportunity for those who, in the past, have been excluded from the elite level of sport: disabled people.

The article, "The Disabled Athlete has an Unfair Advantage," by Amby Burfoot, is a poorly written, research deficient article, in need of accurate, unbiased supporting facts. The article is written about Oscar Pistorius a double below knee amputee that competed but failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, after a lengthy court case. (Robinson) This unsatisfactorily written article has merit to the opinion, however, the author sounded as if he was a first time writer for a school newspaper. The facts used in the paper seem as if they were researched by asking someone who knows, someone who knows someone who is an amputee. Writing with this apparent ignorance, and recklessness can only lead to a larger divide between the two sides of