The Athletes Should Support The Special Olympics

Obesity continues to be a problem in the United States. With obesity rates on the rise something must be done to prevent this massive issue. Seventeen percent of children and adolescents about 12.5 million are obese (Diet). Obesity is the result of a rise in fat that accumulated over time due to the lack of exercise and having a calorie surplus due to unhealthy food. An adult with a BMI (body mass index) higher than 30% is considered to be obese (Obesity). There isn’t a direct focus on obesity, because people don’t think it’s an important issue. To ensure a better future, solution is needed now. The solution to ending the obesity epidemic by encouraging a healthier lifestyle on children at young ages, improving nutrition at schools and restaurants, as well as providing more time and space for citizens to get physically active.

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

Abstract: The Special Olympics not only give special athletes athletic skills, they offer more opportunity, encouragement, and dexterity to survive in society than the public school system alone. To understand the differences and similarities between handicapped athletes and their non-handicap peers is the first step in creating a program that best meets the child's needs. There were no community programs that catered to the mentally and physically challenged, so Eunice Kennedy-Shriver created "special games" in her back yard for her handicapped child. Shriver established the Special Olympics in 1968. Today there are more than one million special athletes competing in 140 countries. There are some problems with relying on the

What comes into one’s mind when they think of a disabled person? Most people feel pity and embarrassment, and feel these disabled people are nothing but useless. In “Disability,” writer Nancy Mairs discusses the experience of being a disabled person in a world focused on strong and healthy people. The danger in this single story is that people with disabilities are discriminated against and put away with forgotten care. Mairs states, how debilitated individuals are continually barred, particularly from the media. People with disabilities are the same as the average American person, but because they are disabled, they are seen as meaningless human beings and

In today’s society people tend to be open about differences and respond to them understandingly. In the 2014 Special Olympic USA games Kim Chandler who is a thirty-eight-year-old olympic swimmer with down syndrome and uses her unique athletic skills to teach able children to swim. Kim is a brilliant example of how society has changed positively. What is so inspiring about Kim teaching children to swim is the way people accept her and include her in our own lives. We accept people with disabilities like Kim because society today accepts differences and believes we need them to make the world a unique place to live. Although, not everyone was accepting of disabilities in the earlier times. If Kim was living in the 1930’s when she wanted to help children swim she would not be able to, she also would not be able to swim because there would be no Special Olympics. In the 1930’s Society was unaccepting to differences; they didn’t want to believe that differences are relevant.

This obesity epidemic has been blamed on the consumption of too many calories appropriate for an increasingly sedentary lifestyle (CDC, 2012). The result of this caloric imbalance is an increase in the prevalence and risk of serious health conditions among children, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mental health problems due to issues of self-esteem and social stigma. The long-term prognosis is equally dire, including a high risk of adult obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, osteoarthritis, and an early death.

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.

I chose Special Olympics as my nonprofit organization because I think more people need to know more about it. The Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to 5.7 million athletes and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Olympics competitions are held every day, all around the world—including local, national and regional competitions, adding up to more than 100,000 events a year. There are concern about children with intellectual disabilities having very little opportunity to participate in athletic events. The history of the Special Olympics started in 1969. It was a backyard summer camp when children could

Obesity has become a normality in the states and around the world. There has been a big push on social media lately to accept all body types and stop hate and discrimination of overweight people, yet weight bias still remains one of the most prevalent and most accepted forms of bias. Typically, we associate obesity with a lack of exercise or an excess of caloric intake or just laziness on the part of the patient. However, patients who suffer from Trisomy 21, or Down Syndrome, often seem to present as obese. In fact, according to Polednak and AulifFe (1976), 20% of males with a learning disability were obese while 17% of females were obese. While this should come at no shock due to the prevalence of obesity in our society, it is a major concern.

There are several issues of deafness, blindness, and other the major disorders, another kind of disability issues, due to which they are not able to perform as their desires. Among these disorders, there is a disorder named obesity that affects the life of the people. There is a clear definition from WHO, obesity as a body mass index >30 kg/m2, as this is the point where the risk of several obesity-related diseases. Nowadays, people are suffering this problem around the world. According to (Gura, 1997), there is half of the people living in the United States are overweight, and one-third is clinically obese, America is only one example of obesity statistics. People live in a high-pressure society environment even for the child, under

In our everyday lives we see and communicate with people with disability, while others live with them in their homes. In my opinion, a disability is any form of physical or mental impairment that impacts on an individual’s ability to function properly and perform normal day to day activities. These impairments arise from either accidents, illnesses, genetic conditions or health conditions. Focusing closely on disability in this essay, I will describe the story of a particular individual with a disability. In my case, the story of Marla Runyan, a famous American Athlete and discuss my thoughts and feelings in response to her story. In addition to this, I will also discuss the four different models of disability and link them to Marla’s disability.

In “Obesity and Children with Special Healthcare Needs: Special Considerations for Special population,” Abeysekara, Turchi, & O’Neil say that high rates of obesity are common in children with special health care needs (SHCN). The implied message is that unhealthy food consumption, lack of physical activity, and parents’ choices are three main factors of obesity, because parents are said to be models for their children. The appeal being used is the use guidance and supervision, because this will help in watching what children are

Some schools use parts of their funding to allow the disabled children enrolled in special education and EC programs to participate in a program called the Special Olympics. The Special Olympics website claims “Founded in 1971, Special Olympics North Carolina provides services and opportunities to more than 38,000 athletes, supported by nearly 5,000 volunteer coaches, and we host nearly 600 competitions annually (Special Olympics).” The Special Olympics are a set of sports, set up like the regular Olympics, that help create a friendly and equal competition to promote and raise awareness of disabilities in the United States (Special Olympics). Sources have proven that the Special Olympics are a fun, and enjoyable way for disabled children to

I don’t think Eunice Kennedy Shriver had any idea, when she first created Special Olympics, that it would grow and blossom into the profound, successful organization it is today. After witnessing how poorly individuals with intellectual disabilities were being treated, she knew something had to be done. She decided that these individuals needed a place to play and compete in sports, just like all other individuals. From this, Special Olympics was created. This organization has grown great measures since its formation and has been positively impacting individuals with special needs over the past several decades. Special Olympics works “to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a

The Special Olympics World games is a wonderful experience for those who have an intellectual disability to experience. I think what they’re doing to help those with disabilities, to have fun and enjoy themselves is