Imprtance of Special Olympics

1588 Words4 Pages

Importance of Special Olympics “Every year around 4.2 million special needs participants attend Special Olympics events around the world.” (Special Olympics). Special Olympics gives individuals with disabilities an opportunity to enjoy participating in sports in the same ways as any other athlete. Special Olympics shows the accomplishments, skill and the bravery of the athletes. Athletics, through Special Olympics, make a positive impact on the lives of those with special needs allowing them to lead active lives. Special Olympics is an association that allows the disabled to be active by participating and competing in the sport events. In the 1950s through the 1960s, Eunice Kennedy Shriver realized the difference in the way people acted toward the special needs population and the difference in the way people acted toward others. She began to think about the disadvantages of the disabled and their ability to do activities. She knew they were capable of doing some activities, but no one tried to achieve a difference in the way the special needs were treated. Shriver hated the fact that the disabled were ignored because people didn’t believe the special needs people were the same as others (Meyer). The disabled are dealing with problems every day of their lives that cannot be fixed. Although Shriver understood that, she did not understand was why society would even think to treat the disabled differently even if they had issues. They had no control over that. She finally came to the conclusion that she needed to make a difference. Shriver tremendously wanted people to look at the disabled differently; they are humans too. She held events on her own time to observe what they could do. She didn’t focus on what they couldn’t achi... ... middle of paper ... ...ial Needs: Information and Activities to Promote Awareness and Understanding. Santa Barbara, CA: Learning Works, 1996. Print. Girod, Christina M. Learning Disabilities. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2001. Print. Mannix, Darlene. Life Skills Activities for Secondary Students with Special Needs. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2009. Print. Meyer, Jennifer. "Learning to Give, Philanthropy Education Resources That Teach Giving and Civic Engagement." Learning to Give. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. "Special Education and Sports: The Disabilities Act and Interscholastic Sports." Special Education and Sports: The Disabilities Act and Interscholastic Sports. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. "Special Olympics: FAQ." Special Olympics: FAQ. Special Olympics, n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. "Sport and Persons with Disabilities." Right to Play. Right to Play, 2001. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Good Kings Bad Kings, by Susan Nussbaum

    1150 Words  | 3 Pages

    Baynton, Douglas. "Disability and Justification of Inequality in American History." The New Disability History. New York: New York University Press, 2001. 285-294. Print.

    Read More

  • The Disabled Athlete “Does” have an Unfair Advantage

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    Burfoot, Amby. "The Disabled Athlete Has an Unfair Advantage." Footloose: Amby Burfoot's Notes from the Road (24 June 2007). Rpt. in The Olympics. Ed. Tamara L. Roleff. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. General Onefile. Web.

    Read More

  • Power of Discrimination Exposed in Call It Blindness

    897 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout history, there have been many images of bravery and strength.  However, there is none more admirable than the bravery and strength of people like Georgina Kleege.  They continue to fight, even when their triumphs go unnoticed by most.  As a result, their actions have had a larger impact on society than any famous hero.  With their patience and perseverance, they have helped change and mold society's negative view of the disabled into a positive one.  Without people with perseverance like Kleege, members of today's society would never try to open their eyes and learn to accept and respect those

    Read More

  • Cultural Sensitivity: The Transition Learning Center

    1919 Words  | 4 Pages

    The learner group is composed of ten Special Education students, ages 18-21. Students are one credit away from earning a Certificate of Individual Achievement from the state of Washington. Before transition, students participated in the school district’s Life Skills program, Resource and Enrichment programs, or in a combination of the two program tracks. One student is Hi...

    Read More

  • Provisions for People with Disabilities in Soccer

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    Provisions for People with Disabilities in Soccer In this essay I will look at how Soccer is provided for in Lisburn

    Read More

  • Can Disability Be A Social Construct?

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the course of history, people with disabilities have often been viewed through the context of their limitations. The Disability Rights Movement, beginning in the 1960’s, strived to change society’s perceptions to consider people with disabilities through their abilities instead. Positive messages of person’s abilities have begun to permeate our media, including changing ideas of how we view disability in general. Through the use of captivating personal anecdotes and scientific information to back them up, the 2015 This American Life podcast “Batman” seeks to prove that disability is a social construct, because one’s abilities are directly influenced by those around them.

    Read More

  • Special Olympics: Benefits Of The Special Olympics

    1901 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1968, Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded an organization many know as The Special Olympics (SO). This is a non-profit organization established to provide children and adults with any intellectual disability sports training and competition opportunities. It started as as summer day camp for children with any intellectual disability (ID); “the children” could go to her backyard and

    Read More

  • Disability In American Sports

    872 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a result of its success, more players and sports joined the games. This was the beginning of a movement for individuals with disabilities to compete in elite sports competitions that would almost equivalent to the Olympics. Almost four years later, competitors from other nations began to join the international movement, known as the “paralympic movement.” Since the mid-1900s, people with disabilities have pushed for the recognition of a disability as an aspect of their identity.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Invisible Disability

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    The history of the disabled has had treatment that have been unreasonable . In the 1800’s, People with disabilities were forced to enter asylums or institution for their entire lives.

    Read More

  • The Accomplishments Of Women With Disabilities In Sports

    1123 Words  | 3 Pages

    Success in disability sport (i.e., become an elite disabled athlete) enables people with impairments to actively resist dominant ideologies describing the impaired body as defective and disabled people as weak, inactive, and dependent (Huang and Brittain, 2006). Sport is a context that facilitates both, resistance and empowerment beyond merely the sporting experience. They feel physically empowered by their exceptional health and fitness achieved by their regular sport practice. They consider it an advantage to be physically robust and energetic because it helps their daily movements and allows them to pursue other things. Furthermore, these disabled athletes are empowered by the feeling

    Read More

  • The Special Olympics

    2697 Words  | 6 Pages

    Sullivan, Kathleen A., Patricia J Lantz. "Leveling the playing field or leaving the players? Section 504, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Interscholastic Sports." The Journal of Special Education (Winter 2000): 258

    Read More

  • Understanding the Disabled

    1223 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the essay “Disability,” Nancy Mairs discusses the lack of media attention for the disabled, writing: “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of life is to admit that there is something ordinary about disability itself, that it may enter anyone’s life.” An ordinary person has very little exposure to the disabled, and therefore can only draw conclusions from what is seen in the media. As soon as people can picture the disabled as regular people with a debilitating condition, they can begin to respect them and see to their needs without it seeming like an afterthought or a burden. As Mairs wrote: “The fact is that ours is the only minority you can join involuntarily, without warning, at any time.” Looking at the issue from this angle, it is easy to see that many disabled people were ordinary people prior to some sort of accident. Mairs develops this po...

    Read More

  • Teaching Students with Disabilities

    984 Words  | 2 Pages

    Education is a profession which requires a teacher to be able to communicate with a multitude of students on a variety of levels. There is not a class, or student for that matter, that is identical. Therefore, teachers must be able to identify and help educate students from all different types of backgrounds and at different levels. Teaching a singular subject presents difficulties, but teaching students with disabilities should not be one. There are three main teaching areas that need to be focused on when teaching a student with a learning disability. Teachers need to focus on the strategies that will assist students with reading comprehension skills, writing skills, and maintaining appropriate behaviors in a classroom setting.

    Read More

  • Special Needs Children Essay

    1327 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are numerous careers related to special needs, all of which require different schooling, training, mentorships, and other types of preparation. Any type of job working with children with mental and physical disabilities can be challenging but also very rewarding when one sees the child improve (Tyrer, 2007). Different types of careers affect special needs children in different ways. For example a teacher will help them thrive in school, while other careers may help the kids improve at home or in a public setting. Special needs workers should be creative, flexible, and personable to be able to meet the needs of the child and also provide useful information for the child’s parents. It is important for one to at least complete minimal required training so one will be fully prepared to work with a child with any type of delay. Often children in schools do not improve at a higher rate because their teacher may not have the necessary training to assist them (Marković, 2014). No matter what special needs career someone chooses, everyone should have one common goal: to help special needs children thrive. Marković from the article “Work with Kids with Special Needs” puts it perfectly when she states, “the main aim is that children with disabilities get the chance to grow, learn, and socialize with children with normal development, and that these children can adapt and learn together with children with special needs. In this way, they develop understanding, tolerance, and humanity” (Marković,

    Read More

  • Social Division And Visible Disability Essay

    1487 Words  | 3 Pages

    Proposed by Mike Oliver, social model of the disabled places emphasis on actual needs rather than referring impairments as personal tragedy (Best, 2005). Assumingly disability is a multi-perspective complex of social prejudice and discrimination barriers, Oliver advocated that society, as a whole should be responsible for problems the disabled face. Although it is somehow controversial, as a personal difficulty is shifted and escalated to social complication, wider scope of collective social force could be united to tackle the problem efficiently. Additionally, under the social model, an important idea pinpointed is that what the disabled group needs the most is not others’ pitying, but empathy (Best, 2005). The two actions are distinctively different: pitying involves hierarchical differences such that abled and disabled are not treated on the same ground; however, empathy engages oneself to put his foot into others’ shoe, with wholehearted compassion and understanding. This is the point inspired me personally the most; hence, this concept would be integrated into the proposed solutions to narrow the social

    Read More

More about Imprtance of Special Olympics

Open Document