The Special Olympics

The special Olympics was a great opportunity to be a part of a global movement. This movement offers children and adults with and without intellectual disabilities year-round sports training and competition. As a volunteer swim timer for the special Olympics my duties consisted of interacting with all participants and coaches. By interacting with most of all coaches and participants, I learned a lot about the leadership of the program and the athletes that competed. However, the focus of this event was to bring awareness to SMSU and to everyone involved, from athletes and their families, to coaches and volunteers. The special Olympics is offered all over the world in nearly 170 countries. Nattie Adams is a special Olympics coach for people with intellectual disabilities such as, down syndrome, autisms, fragile x syndrome and other disabilities. She explained that people with intellectual disabilities may experience certain limitations in cognitive functioning and other skills, like, communication and self-care. These limitations can cause a child to develop and learn more slowly or differently. However, the special Olympics offers up to 16 unified sports for people with and without intellectual disabilities. Unifies sports brings together people in a fun way by breaking down stereotyping. As any other coach, Nattie Adams …show more content…
The special Olympics plays a tremendous role in sports, and how it can shift each athlete focus from disability to ability, from isolation to involvement. Also, the special Olympics transform the lives of people with disabilities by surrounding them with others with similar disabilities and people who care. Overall my experience as a volunteer swim timer was uplifted by people who accepted there disability, and didn’t care if they came in last or first place. They loved the atmosphere of SMSU and cheered for each