When Mr. Andi was appointed to the Alabama Council for Developmental Disabilities (ACDD) almost three years ago, he was in for a rude awakening. Less than two weeks after Nathan was born, he had participated in the local Torch Run for Special Olympics in honor of Nathan and was proud to be affiliated with such a worthy organization.
Then he went to his first ACDD meeting.
Some of the self advocates seated around the table spoke out (vehemently!) against Special Olympics because, in their opinion, any organization that isn’t fully inclusive is B-A-D bad. They felt that only full participation in sports – by all, without qualifiers – was acceptable and they viewed Special Olympics as an obstacle to that aim.
On the one hand, they had a point.
Special Olympics is segregated, because only people with disabilities can compete, so Special Olympics athletes miss out on interactions with their able-bodied peers and may be discouraged from participation in “typical” sports because there is a “special” alternative. Media portrayal of Special Olympics events is often patronizing, reinforcing negative stereotypes and “othering” the athletes. Unlike the Deaf Olympics and Paralympics, the board of directors is dominated by people with no disability whatsoever.
All compelling arguments, and I agree – to a point.
The genesis of Special Olympics was when Eunice Kennedy Shriver realized in the late 1950s that children with intellectual disabilities had no place to play and began a summer camp for kids with intellectual disabilities in her own backyard. In those days, many of them were institutionalized and of those who remained with their families, few were allowed to attend school.
Special Olympics brought disability out into the open, and in doing so, cracked the door to inclusion and integration.
When I was in high school in the 1980s, children with disabilities attended school, but were largely segregated from the student body in a basement classroom. My role as a Special Olympics volunteer was the only interaction I had with most of my peers with intellectual disability. Was it ideal? No – and not even judged against today’s imperfect standards. But it was better than the nothing of my daily experience.
In a perfect world, inclusion would be the norm.
But is the problem caused (or abetted) by Special Olympics, or is Special Olympics simply the mirror that reflects society’s continuing biases? If the need for it didn’t exist, wouldn’t Special Olympics be dying out on its own?
Several weeks ago, I wrote about Miss You Can Do It, the documentary about the pageant of the same name. Reader Galit directed me to this post about the pageant and asked my thoughts, and reader Cara sent me to this one with the perspective of several disabled women. Both expressed concern about the idea of a pageant solely for girls with disabilities.
The arguments against the Miss You Can Do It pageant are not unlike those against Special Olympics – it’s a segregated event and the media coverage is inevitably “inspiration porn” (as Cara says – great phrasing!) which leads to othering of the participants. Valid points, and I agree – again, only to a point.
These arguments don’t take the long view.
I would love for both of my kids to be included 100% in all activities with typical kids, but that’s not the world we currently live in. We have, however, made great strides during my lifetime and I believe we’re continuing to make steady progress toward that end goal. Organizations like Special Olympics and Miss You Can Do It have given differently-abled people the opportunity to participate in activities that were not open to them before, and in doing so, have shown the world that people with disabilities are interested in those things. How many able bodied people do you think would be (or were) surprised to learn that a girl in a wheelchair would want to be in a beauty pageant? If they don’t know that, would it ever occur to them to include her, much less encourage her?
In my view, these organizations are bridges across a gigantic chasm.
Four decades after Special Olympics was founded, it’s common to see kids with disabilities on sports teams and cheerleading squads. How much of that progress can be traced back to organizations like Special Olympics? Beauty pageants could be the last frontier for inclusion of those who don’t fit the mold of the ideal body type.
no matter how much people try to make things more equitable- every inchstone seems subject to harsh criticism- which makes me want to quit trying to :
understand what the right thing to do is
actually do it
as far as inclusion goes- unless you are OBVIOUSLY (I have mild spastic hemiplegia) differently abled- even the differently abled are critical.
I have a friend whose daughter was very active in Special Olympics. She tells some lovely stories about meeting the Shrivers and other celebrities, of the wonderful experiences her daughter had participating in the Special Olympics. But over time, the focus seemed to change – so the conflict became that her daughter was TOO special for the Special Olympics and not able-enough. Instead of being a “let me be brave in the attempt” focus, it became more of an “here are the elite among the special needs community”. Even among the SO coordinators, they sought out a balance among the athletes. The wanted athletes that LOOKED special but not TOO special. The politics were ugly. So when I see the question “Are they a hero or a villian?” That’s another perspective – Are they inclusive enough among the Special Needs community? What should be the standard? I can see the argument going either way.
I’m involved with Special Olympics because my two daughters are. Both have Down syndrome and one is very good at sports and did play in mainstream sports teams at school but the other one lacks coordination and is not really a “team player” so needed extra help with sports at school. Special Olympics provides both with sporting opportunities and a chance to compete. And both are looking forward to attending our national games, one as a basketball player and the other paying tenpin bowling.
Adrienne, I wonder if the attitude you mention is more a problem among some coaches rather than official policy. We recently attended a basketball tournament where there were going to be NO A grade teams and I graded our team as B2 based on the guidelines of having a few good players but most were not, and we lost all four games and were told we should have been in the C grade because A grade players were in the B1 teams, so I guess the B2 teams had B1 players.
During our practice sessions we do include some people who don’t strictly meet the “intellectual disability” criteria but may have other physical disabilities or mental health problems that may make inclusion elsewhere more difficult.
Full inclusion is an ideal but I doubt it is achievable for everyone unless more sports clubs are willing to play just for the enjoyment and not competitively. Otherwise if, like me, you have little sporting ability participation in sports is soul destroying.
Thought-provoking post, Andi. I agree with Stella, I’d love to see full inclusion but it’s just not the reality. Same with full-inclusion in school, which sometimes isn’t ideal because of a variety of factors (e.g., in our school district, the aides are not so great). In the end, I keep coming around to whatever empowers kids and adults with disabilities, great. What I don’t appreciate is when people can only talk about the “grit” or spirit of Special Olympics athletes, like Obama did when he announced he was going to chair the next one. People with ID and disabilities can also have great sports prowess, and should be acknowledged for that.
Great post Andi! A topic that I really enjoy reading and thinking about. We love activities that demonstrate true inclusion but if Claudia doesn’t stand a chance to succeed she’s not likely to enjoy it anyhow. Thanks for posting.
I’ve been thinking about this as someone who doesn’t have a super close connection to the disability community, so my comments are hopefully not offensive.
When I look at kids participating in events like Special Olympics, I admit, I love watching the videos. But it’s not that the videos are inspiring. I realized that what I look at is the look of joy on those kids faces as they are succeeding. It’s the same reason I love being at the finish line of marathons. Watching the looks of victory gives me chills. So to me, it’s not that Special Olympians are inspiring, it’s that they’re clearly having fun. And that’s what being a kid’s all about.
Now, I know nothing about the internal politics of the organization, so I can’t comment there. And sure, in a perfect world, there would be full inclusion, but I don’t always know how that would work. And I can’t imagine that inclusion would always be fun for the kid. I say this from the perspective of a completely able-bodied yet completely clumsy and unathletic kid who HATED team sports in grade school. I was always last in kickball and the fielders would all run forward when I was up to bat because they knew I wasn’t able to kick the ball very hard. It was embarrassing. Maybe not when I was in younger grades, but as I got older, it was clear. Obviously, I’m not trying to make an actual comparison of my lack of grace to having a physical disability, but I would think some of the emotional aspects would be or at least could be similar.
And of course, some kids in Special Olympics are amazing athletes too – not to take away from that at all. It’s a complicated situation.
Please be aware that the vast majority of Special Olympics athletes are not “kids”. SO has a young athlete’s program for children ages 2 – 7, with the regular program beginning at age 8. There is no maximum age for Special Olympics, which means the majority of athletes are adults.
I believe SO does get the inclusion aspect. They have introduced many “Unified Sports” programs over the last several years, which allows athletes to compete along side their NT peers. I agree with Ellen, as long as the programs are empowering for people with disabilities, then it’s a good thing.
I guess when I say kids, I was thinking about the teenager aspect, but I think the same applies to adults. We all get gleeful when we succeed.
I loved this post- very informed look at both sides of the debate. I am not completely sure where I stand on this issue, but speaking as a Special Olympics swim coach who also has Cerebral Palsy, what I love is my athletes and friends have the opportunity to participate where they might not otherwise. Full inclusion for them might be ideal but is simply not possible. And they are so incredibly proud of their accomplishments, I would never want to take that from them.
I’ve volunteered with Special Olympics many times over the years. I agree that it would be awesome if all children were welcome to join any league or organization, with their special needs not being a factor at all. But when I think of Special Olympics, I kind of think of it separately from other sports and organizations.
When I have gone to Little League, soccer, or other sports games open to “typical” children, I’ve seen a lot of pressure and competition and “you gotta be the best.” In Special Olympics, I see a lot of “Do your best, and have fun, and cheer for your friends even if they’re competing against you, and just enjoy this day.” It is a whole different atmosphere.
I think every kid should have the RIGHT to play in Little League or whatever else, along with typical peers. But I definitely think they also have the right to experience Special Olympics and have a day where they’re not a “special needs kid being allowed to be included because we kind of have to,” but a full participant where it is all about them as individuals doing whatever they can do, the best that they can, and having fun.
I am the mother of a 21 year old Special Olympics athlete, am a coach, and am on the board of directors for our state’s Special Olympics. This was an excellent and thought provoking blog and I’ve enjoyed reading the comments. My business is a state level sponsor and we typically donate between $20-40K per year. I was a little concerned when we started “integrating” neurotypical peers into some of the sports as I wasn’t sure that was the best use of the money we had donated. How wrong I was! The Unified Sports program has really brought both populations together both on and off the sports fields! Also, there isn’t a rule that says SO athletes can’t also participate in regular sports activities and many of our athletes now do! This is an incredible organization and I will always support them for what they have done for my son and his peers!
Some think there is a place for these segregated programs but I will never support them nor will my kid participate. But then who am I, only a autistic adult with a multiply-different kid who has always been included with typical peers. He is considered a special needs scout but will only be in a regular Scout troop, not some smarmy segregated one.