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. .
As a young child, I remember how my grandfather's disability affected my life. I don't think that I even knew what the purpose of his wheelchair was. To me, it was just a toy, just another toy that my cousins and I could play with.
The Special Olympics date back all the way to the year 1968. Many see these Games as a time to honor someone who is able to “overcome” a task, but author William Peace sees this as an insulting portrayal of people with disabilities. Peace is a multidisciplinary school teacher and scholar that uses a wheel chair and writes about the science behind disabilities and handicaps. As a physically handicapped individual, Peace is able to observe a negative portrayal of disabled persons. In his article titled, “Slippery Slopes: Media, Disability, and Adaptive Sports,” William Peace offers his own personal insight, utilizes several statistics regarding handicaps, as well as numerous rhetorical appeals in order to communicate to the “common man”
In the 1900’s lots of people who had disabilities were put into institutions.People were, so...
...bled child, many of them are focused on the immediate concerns of how the child will function in school and what services will be available to him or her. As these children grow-up and are ready to graduate high school and enter the workforce, they often have limited options available to them. As a result, many adults with autism or other cognitive disabilities either receive state disability pay or are lifelong dependants on their parents (www.eeoc.gov). The ADA did not begin on July 26, 1990, nor did it begin in 1988 when it was first introduced to congress. It began when mothers and fathers saw their disabled children left out. It began when people with disabilities challenged the barriers that excluded them from their communities. It began when social activists began fighting for the rights of the disabled. Without the work of so many there would not be an ADA.
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).
Twice a year disabled athletes from all around the world gather to participate in the Special Olympics. In the 1950’s and early 1960’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver was concerned when she noticed that people with intellectual disabilities didn’t have a place to play, she had to take action (“History Special”). She began holding a summer day camp for special needs people in her backyard, the goal was to learn what children with disabilities were capable of doing (“History Special”). After an abundance of tedious work, on July 19th and July 20th of 1968 the first international Special Olympics took place at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois (“History Special”). A thousand people with intellectual disabilities from the United States and Canada competed in track, field and swimming (“History Special”). Almost ten years later the first ever International Special Olympics Winter Games was hosted in Steamboat Springs, Colorado (“History Special”). Over five-hundred athletes competed in skiing and skating events. It was ...
Helen Keller is probably the most universally recognized disabled person of the twentieth century. (Others such as Franklin Roosevelt were equally well-known, but Keller is remembered primarily for her accomplishments which are disability-related.) Those of us who have grown up in the last half of this century have only known Keller as a figure of veneration. We know her primarily through popularized versions of her life such as the play "The Miracle Worker," or through her autobiographical works such as The Story of My Life (Keller, 1961 [1902]) and The World I Live In (Keller, 1908). Most of us have come away with the image of a more-than-human person living with the blessed support of an equally superhuman mentor, Annie Sullivan Macy.
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 public school system to seek a child's full potential in the special education programs. The Special Olympics, however, have found an effective method of preparing children, teens, and adults for society through sport. The diverse selection of sports, their rules, and physical demands, is an advantage when there is a huge range of disabilities. There is a program offered for almost everyone. People who benefit from these games range from the athletes themselves, the officials, coaches, caregivers, parents, to the spectators and on-site first aid staff. Mrs. Kennedy-Shriver said this in regard to special athletes, "through sports, they can realize their potential for growth." Over and over this fantastic organization has demonstrated integrity, good sportsmanship, and goal oriented programs that work!
In our grade school years we were taught that kids with disabilities were special. We
The summer Olympic games isone of the most prestigious events in world history. Olympic games started in Athens in 776B.C.E, mostly to praise all the gods but also to show political peace throughout Greece. Olympic games gave people chance to show off there skills and also to become well known to become known as a legend. These games really brought the community together it created and maintained a common bond. Only the best of the best athletes came and competed in the events. These games affected the political status so the created a The "Olympic Truce” which was established in ancient Greece in the 9th century BC between three kings. During the Truce period, athletes, artists and their families could travel in total safety to participate in or attend the Olympic games and return afterwards to their respective countries. (" Olympic Movement Promotes Peace Worldwide. ) There were four crucial parts in the history of the Olympic games starting with the start in 776B.C.E, then 1896, 1970/1980s, and lastly modern day Olympic games. This work is an evolutionary piece denoting change and continuities over time in the Olympic games.
Some people have more experience than others when it comes to children with disabilities. There are lots of types of disabilities. There are mental, physical, and learning disabilities. Scientists have found out a lot of information for people to learn and know about when it comes to the causes of the disabilities. There are people out in the world that know what a disability is like and there are also people who do not know what it is like to have or live with a person that has a disability. I am one of the many people in the world that has first hand experience with knowing someone and having a disability.
Today we recognize the prestigious Olympics every four years and it is labeled as the best sporting event the world has to offer. If you are in the Olympics, you are put into a category of being a supreme athlete and will represent your country with the best of your ability. Olympians are role models to children of all ages because of the simple fact that only a select few get to represent their country in front of millions each four years. The Olympic games is a test of honor and strength and it brings out the best of every participant involved. Some of the athletic games that Olympics have to offer include wrestling, javelin, and boxing, and many more.
In the early parts of the 20th century, parent advocacy groups like Council for Exceptional Children and National Association for Retarded Citizens worked to bring the needs of individuals with disabilities to the public eye. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy created the President’s Panel on Mental Retardation. The panel recommended changes to the educational programs and about providing states with federal funds to educate children with development disabilities. Many advocates credited and praised President John F. Kennedy as one of many pioneers of special education. Although advocates continued to fight for the rights of individuals with disabilities, students with disabilities were often denied access to public education and sent to special schools, asylums, or other facilities. While at most of these special schools, asylums, hospitals individuals with disabilities were often treated inhumanely, living in dirty facilities with little clothing, food, water, or education. Quality of life for individuals with disabilities was extremely dim. Parents were often torn with wanting what was best for their child and their family along with the high cost of residential treatment. Many families entrusted the care of and education of their children to
Individuals with disabilities have physical or mental deficiencies that prevent their performing one or more major life functions in the normal way. When an individual who has disabilities, or thought to have disabilities, is for this reason treated less well than other people, or excluded from opportunities most others enjoy, that person has been subjected to disability discrimination. People tend to target them to get them to go away or to do something they can do as a lack of understanding of the disability. Just as often, however, disability discrimination is the result of thoughtlessness. Practices built on the presumption that only normal people will participate can have a negative, and therefore discriminatory, impact on people with abnormal bodies or minds.
A child with a mental or physical disability may not be able to think, work, play, and function like other children of the same age. Someone working in the special needs career will be able to assist these children to function in their everyday lives and to meet goals to encourage them to thrive. In order for someone to work with special needs children, they need to understand the factors involved in a child’s improvement, have a heart for helping others, and be properly educated and trained.