Special Olympics

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I'm not sure if this should be posted in the sports forum or not. I was curious as to whether anyone on the boards ever played in Special Olympics as having autism qualifies under the current eligibility rules as a developmental disability. I volunteered at the PA Special Olympics Summer Games held here at Penn State this past weekend. It was definitely a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed seeing the firey determination, compassion, and grit of the athletes. Even in the midst of competition, they showed such great sportmanship to each other, often hugging and contratulating athletes they were competing with. It's really too bad players in most sports often don't show such understanding for others when competition strictly becomes their focus. For those adults and young adults with AS/HFA/PDD-NOS who feel able to volunteer, I'd recommend volunteering sometime for Special Olympics.

By the way, in case you're wondering, I was an event assistant during the games for basketball, tennis, acquatics, and soccer (at the sportsfest).

-Scott

Hmmmm... That's something kewel to consider doing.

Cool, thanks for sharing that.

When I am older and way better at archery/rowing, maybe.

I've often wondered if we would qualify. It would, physically, be a lot easier to make it to the special olympics than the normal ones, just because there are fewer people who fit the criteria.

Just in case anyone was wondering, here's the exact qualification rules for competing as an athlete in Special Olympics:

"A person is considered to have an intellectual disability for purposes of determining his or her eligibility to participate in Special Olympics if that person satisfies any one of the following requirements:

* The person has been identified by an agency or professional as having an intellectual disability as determined by their localities; or
* The person has a cognitive delay, as determined by standardized measures such as intelligent quotient or "IQ" testing or other measures that are generally accepted within the professional community in that Accredited Program's nation as being a reliable measurement of the existence of a cognitive delay; or
* The person has a closely related developmental disability. A "closely related developmental disability" means having functional limitations in both general learning (such as IQ) and in adaptive skills (such as in recreation, work, independent living, self-direction, or self-care). However, persons whose functional limitations are based solely on a physical, behavioral, or emotional disability, or a specific learning or sensory disability, are not eligible to participate as Special Olympics athletes, but may be eligible to volunteer for Special Olympics as partners in Unified Sports®, if they otherwise meet the separate eligibility requirements for participation in Unified Sports set forth in the Sports Rules."

Autism spectrum disorders qualify under provision 3 as they are developmental disabilities that affect both learning and adapation. Now with that said, any people who have substantially adapted such that there is no noticable major effect upon learning and adaptive functioning may have a harder time getting eligibility from a physician or agency. I recently have been diagnosed officially with AS, for instance, but I wouldn't likely qualify as an athlete due to the fact that I'm an independent working adult, live on my own, and don't readily require any support in self-direction or self-care. I'm not sure I'd really fit in either being a Ph.D. student. However, anybody at any age can volunteer.

Stephen Lynch does a great song about "The Special Olympics" which I'd urge everyone to check out (that is, everyone bar the easily offended anyway )

TAFKASH, I don't think one has to be easily offended to be offended by that song. There are some things in life that just aren't right to parody. One of them is kids with disabilities trying their hardest on an athletic field. These kids train for their performances throughout the year and put in their best effort. Special Olympics gives them accomplishments to be proud of. That song is absolute garbage.

-Scott

You're not a Lynch fan then, I take it?

TAFKASH, I've seen him perform on Comedy Central. He's funny.

Yes, very funny I'm something of a fan of his - I've come close to having major accidents when listening to some of his stuff in my car.....

Well I have been competing since 8 years old starting in Soccer and later adding Basketball, Swimming, Track and Field, Floor Hockey and Bowling.

I spent most of my years in Area 23 of VA but since I started going to Mason, I been split between Area 26 and 23 sports.

I used 2 volunteer 4 special olympics but if u have autism AS ADHD u can compete in ur own sport such as badminton, tennis cos i know a few ppl who r on da spectrum n dey r very good at their sport.

I was suppose to volunteer for the special olympics in jersey, she told me where to go and everything, i was going to also be an assistant, but I couldnt make it considering it was too far of a drive. I def want to though in the future, thanks for reminding me again hehe!

I think I'm too close to normal to join.

You can still join because I'm the same but I'm still in it for fun.