Every year, my family takes a day off of work or school and goes to a local National Guard base, where about a hundred soldiers work hard to put on a day for some very special guests.
The Special Olympics program, created in 1968 by Eunice Shriver Kennedy, is an athletic program for people with intellectual disabilities. It also provides health screenings and health initiatives for its five million athletes as well as volunteer opportunities for over one million people. Most importantly, it allows individuals with intellectual disabilities to improve their health, discover abilities within themselves to gain confidence, and to focus on what they can do as opposed to cannot do.
The first time I met Tim, at my (then-future) in-laws’ house, he told me all about his Special Olympics medals. They were a point of pride, and something he’d remembered in a brain that doesn’t always see time the same way we do.
My brother-in-law, Tim, works throughout the year, training hard for his big day. Timmy takes pride in earning his medals, and at 60, he has participated as both a child and as an adult. The first time I met Tim, at my (then-future) in-laws’ house, he told me all about his Special Olympics medals. They were a point of pride, and something he’d remembered in a brain that doesn’t always see time the same way we do.
As an adult, Tim now participates in a day program. That program participates in the Special Olympics, too. During the day of the Olympics, my daughter volunteers, helping participants from Tim’s program or Tim himself get ready for each event. Sometimes she pushes a wheelchair for a less mobile athlete, or sometimes she simply directs an athlete where to stand until it’s their turn. She has learned patience, perseverance, and taking joy in the moment from volunteering almost every year since she was about nine.
There is nothing that can change a person’s view of their life more than watching these cognitively challenged adults try their very hardest to win these games.
Every athlete receives a medal, and gets to stand on the podium, cheered on by friends, family, and caregivers. The soldiers who set up and run the program are dedicated, hard-working, and kind, and seem to truly take joy in watching the participants do their very best. The family members and friends who make the drive to Cape Cod to cheer on the athletes are engaged in the spirit of the sport, and, speaking for myself and my family, we come away better for having seen and been part of this type of community event.
But my brother-in-law’s program isn’t the only one dear to my family. My daughter also volunteers at the local Middle School for several weeks during the school year, supporting students who participate in Special Olympics. It’s one of her favorite parts of the year, where she gets to see so many fellow students stretch their limits and try their best. Dozens of volunteers, from teachers to students, help students from the town’s Special Education programs achieve physical goals they’ve practiced for, boosting self-esteem and coordination, allowing them to interact with friends without the structure of the classroom (something some of the children do not otherwise have the opportunity to do, thus building social skills for the participants.)
This year, Betsy Devos wants to completely cut the funds for the Special Olympics program.
I’m here to tell you, she will be doing a disservice to a group of Americans who are so proud, and so anxious to be able to show that they aren’t useless. They can do things, they can participate, and they can win. They can have a day where people see them as important, and see that they are ready to be included in a society that often doesn’t acknowledge that they exist.
But more than that, it will be taking away an opportunity for volunteers to gain perspective. My children have been to more Special Olympics events than they have school functions. They have seen that even the least mobile or least skilled person has value at Special Olympics. The event is designed to focus on the athletes, but the volunteers take away almost as much as the athletes do. The joy on an athlete’s face when they complete a run, or compete in the long jump, is an expression I can’t quite describe. Happiness, pride, and a sense of community all war with one another as athletes hold up medals, smile for a picture, and hug caregivers and other athletes. These are invaluable moments for both children and adults.
Devos defends this cut, stating, “We had to make some difficult decisions with this budget.”
In addition to the cuts to Special Olympics, she proposed cuts to other programs that support students with disabilities, such as the Hellen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults, American Printing House for the Blind, National Technical Institute for the Deaf and Gallaudet University, a school for students with hearing loss. However, she simultaneously proposed a $60 million investment in Charter Schools and creating a tax cut for individuals and companies that donate to scholarships for private schools. Given that charter schools are known to enroll fewer students with disabilities and don’t have the same criteria for serving them, the picture this presents is of an administration that simply doesn’t care for students with disabilities.
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