Special Olympics: Olympic-Like Competition for People with Disabilities

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Have you ever dreamed of going to the Olympics? What about people with intellectual disabilities though? For many years, they never even had the chance to dream about participating in an Olympic-like competition. With a history that has moved the hearts of many, the Special Olympics is an international organization that continues to thrive in helping individuals with intellectual disabilities to understand and accomplish basic everyday tasks, to fulfill their full potential, and to be accepted into the world just like any other human being.
The whole idea came from one young and brave woman named Eunice Kennedy Shriver born on July 10, 1921 in Brooklyn, Massachusetts. She came from one of the most well known families of her time, with her brother being President John F. Kennedy. Out of the nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Eunice was the fifth born and one of her sisters, Rosemary, was third born. Rosemary was born with an intellectual disability and had many problems learning and developing throughout her life. When Eunice saw how unfairly people like her sister were treated, she knew she had to do something. By 1957,Eunice had already taken over her family charity, the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation which is dedicated to helping those with intellectual disabilities and still helps many today.
Well…I shouldn’t say the Special Olympics was the first chance. Camp Shriver, which the Special Olympics originated from, was really the first chance that people with intellectual disabilities had to exercise, make friends, get some fresh air, and have fun. The main goal was to unite people with and without intellectual disabilities and join them together. Camp Shriver was an all-day camp open t...

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... with them from the games.
Serving over 4.2 million people from over 170 countries today, the Special Olympics continues to strive to find the talent in all people, no matter what their ability level is or what they look like. The Special Olympics has truly helped many to succeed in their life. Eunice Kennedy Shriver will be remembered in history for changing the way the world viewed people with disabilities and for opening her heart up when nobody else did.

Works Cited

Brown, Fern G. Special Olympics. New York: F. Watts, 1992.
Dinn, Sheila. Hearts of Gold: A Celebration of Special Olympics and Its Heroes.
Woodbridge, CT: Blackbirch, 1996.
Kennedy, Mike. Special Olympics. New York: Children's, 2002.
"Special Olympics: Home Page." Special Olympics: Home Page. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.
Foundation, n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2014. .

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