Special Olympics

[Guest guest]

Subject: Special Olympics

>A few years ago, at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine

>contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the

>starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun, they all

>started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to

>the finish and win. All, that is, except one little boy who stumbled on

the

>asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times, and began to cry.

>

>The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down

>and looked back. Then they all turned around and went back.

>

>Every one of them.

>

>One girl with Down's Syndrome bent down and kissed

>him and said: " This will make it better. " Then all nine

>linked arms and walked together to the finish line.

>

>Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went

>on for several minutes. People who were there are still

>telling the story.

>

>Why? Because deep down we know this one thing: What

>matters in this life is more than winning for ourselves.

>What matters in this life is helping others win, even if it means

>slowing down and changing our course.

>

>Pass it on...we need to change our hearts

>

________________________________________________________________

YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET!

Juno now offers FREE Internet Access!

Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit:

http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

[Guest guest]

Annie ,

I am proud of them too,you go girls !!!!!

In Friendship, Jo

[Guest guest]

Annie

Wow that is great news. Congrats to both the girls. I am sure you are

very proud of them!!

Tracey

" sunshinecat@... " wrote:

> I know that I haven't been around much lately. I wanted to let

> everyone know that both of my girls were in the state special olympics

> swim meet and did really good and now the mayor's office is going to

> award them with another awrad for their accomplishments. I am very

> proud of them. Annie

>

> -----

>

>

> -----------------------------------------------------------------------

> Visit iWon.com - the Internet's largest guaranteed cash giveaway!

> Click here to earn Cash Back on your holiday purchases!

>

[Guest guest]

Annie,

WOW thats great :)i bet your smile is huge )

congrats

*hugz*

karyn

=====

i wish you mud puddles and dandelions

________________________________________________________________

Nokia 5510 looks weird sounds great.

Go to http://uk.promotions./nokia/ discover and win it!

The competition ends 16 th of December 2001.

[Guest guest]

> well everyone, nathan did it, he actually ran this year, wahooo,

probalby cause i didnt go this time thoguth maybe if i wasnt there it

would be less of a distraction for him, eventhoguh im one of the

coaches i nayed the spring events. i thought obout him all day, and

he did great, his other coaches/teacher said he didnt want to throw

the softball, or wait for his awards but they got him to do it, he

ran without any troubles too, he got 2nd in the 50m dash, and 3rd in

the softball throw. when i get any pics and its in the paper i will

post it. shawna.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> well everyone, nathan did it, he actually ran this year, wahooo,

probalby cause i didnt go this time thoguth maybe if i wasnt there it

would be less of a distraction for him, eventhoguh im one of the

coaches i nayed the spring events. i thought obout him all day, and

he did great, his other coaches/teacher said he didnt want to throw

the softball, or wait for his awards but they got him to do it, he

ran without any troubles too, he got 2nd in the 50m dash, and 3rd in

the softball throw. when i get any pics and its in the paper i will

post it. shawna.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> well everyone, nathan did it, he actually ran this year, wahooo,

probalby cause i didnt go this time thoguth maybe if i wasnt there it

would be less of a distraction for him, eventhoguh im one of the

coaches i nayed the spring events. i thought obout him all day, and

he did great, his other coaches/teacher said he didnt want to throw

the softball, or wait for his awards but they got him to do it, he

ran without any troubles too, he got 2nd in the 50m dash, and 3rd in

the softball throw. when i get any pics and its in the paper i will

post it. shawna.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

YEAH! SHAWNA!

HIGH FIVES TO YOU! THUMBS THUMBS TO NATHAN! Looking good that

participated in the events. Remarkable news! HUGS!

Irma, 13 DS/ASD

> well everyone, nathan did it, he actually ran this year, wahooo,

probalby cause i didnt go this time thoguth maybe if i wasnt there it

would be less of a distraction for him, eventhoguh im one of the

coaches i nayed the spring events. i thought obout him all day, and

he did great, his other coaches/teacher said he didnt want to throw

the softball, or wait for his awards but they got him to do it, he

ran without any troubles too, he got 2nd in the 50m dash, and 3rd in

the softball throw. when i get any pics and its in the paper i will

post it. shawna.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

YEAH! SHAWNA!

HIGH FIVES TO YOU! THUMBS THUMBS TO NATHAN! Looking good that

participated in the events. Remarkable news! HUGS!

Irma, 13 DS/ASD

> well everyone, nathan did it, he actually ran this year, wahooo,

probalby cause i didnt go this time thoguth maybe if i wasnt there it

would be less of a distraction for him, eventhoguh im one of the

coaches i nayed the spring events. i thought obout him all day, and

he did great, his other coaches/teacher said he didnt want to throw

the softball, or wait for his awards but they got him to do it, he

ran without any troubles too, he got 2nd in the 50m dash, and 3rd in

the softball throw. when i get any pics and its in the paper i will

post it. shawna.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Sorry guys if this has repeated, butterfingers and surprised it

posted more than once.

Irma

> > well everyone, nathan did it, he actually ran this year, wahooo,

> probalby cause i didnt go this time thoguth maybe if i wasnt there

it

> would be less of a distraction for him, eventhoguh im one of the

> coaches i nayed the spring events. i thought obout him all day, and

> he did great, his other coaches/teacher said he didnt want to throw

> the softball, or wait for his awards but they got him to do it, he

> ran without any troubles too, he got 2nd in the 50m dash, and 3rd

in

> the softball throw. when i get any pics and its in the paper i

will

> post it. shawna.

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/27/02 2:12:41 PM, JBelle456@... writes:

<< Just wanted to share a special moment....my daughter , 13,

participated

in the special olympics held at our high school, Council Rock, today and won

three gold medals! She came in first for the softball toss, 25 m dash and 50

m dash. It was alot of fun despite the fact it took so long to get the event

started. >>

Good for !

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to share a special moment....my daughter , 13, participated

in the special olympics held at our high school, Council Rock, today and won

three gold medals! She came in first for the softball toss, 25 m dash and 50

m dash. It was alot of fun despite the fact it took so long to get the event

started.

[Guest guest]

- that is so awesome!! Congratulations to your daughter!! Deanna

[Guest guest]

Congrats to !! For a Job Well Done!!!!

Sherwood

----------------

Visit iWon.com - the Internet's largest guaranteed cash giveaway!

[Guest guest]

Wow thats great!!!!Congrats !!!

Tracey

Dougherty wrote:

> Just wanted to share a special moment....my daughter , 13,

> participated

> in the special olympics held at our high school, Council Rock, today

> and won

> three gold medals! She came in first for the softball toss, 25 m dash

> and 50

> m dash. It was alot of fun despite the fact it took so long to get the

> event

> started.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

That is awesome for !!! I wanted to get my daughter, (11 1/2)

involved here in Las Vegas, but the organization is not very organized and I

never get my phone calls returned. Any tips???

Peace,

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

I got my daughter involved in the special olympics through her school.

An invitation and application came home about a month before the olympics

were to be held in my county. I'm sorry but I have no other information to

pass on to you about how to get your daughter involved.

Thanks for congratulations!

Re: Special Olympics

> That is awesome for !!! I wanted to get my daughter, (11 1/2)

> involved here in Las Vegas, but the organization is not very organized and

I

> never get my phone calls returned. Any tips???

> Peace,

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Well, it sure looks like SO is excluding our kids. We went to the volunteer

meeting and the sports director told me that they will make a special program

tailored to your child's needs. I was asking questions because I knew Brook

would not be able to do the types of sports they had listed. The program is

called something like " motor activities " I think. She was very nice and I think

we may contact her and see what can be done about the lunkheads, who don't get

what it's all about.

I'm afraid the bowling might be way to overwhelming for Brook, but I

might give it a try and see how he does. Meanwhile, Miles is volunteering with

SO softball and will do soccer next, we volunteer and they still exclude

Brook!!

It just makes me angry that they have this kind of attitude, I think we

should start writing a letter campaign to the main headquarters and see if they

will listen to our needs.

If your read their philosophy, etc., they are not following it. The

philosophy states: Special Olympics is founded on the belief that people with

developmental disabilities can, with proper instruction and encouragement,

learn, enjoy and benefit from participation in individual and team sports.

Sports must be adapted only as necessary to meet the needs of those with mental

and

physical limitations.

Their Mission: The Special Olympics mission is to provide year-round sports

training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic type sports for

persons five years of age and older with developmental disabilities, giving them

continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage,

experience joy and participate in sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with

families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

We will be both calling and writing them and see what kind of response we

get.

Marisa

[Guest guest]

Kathy,

That's a great story. I love that gets to play b-ball and soccer.

It's true that a lot depends on the coach, but the leadership and philosophy

need to come from the top. There needs to be some accountability and recognition

for the volunteers for example. I'm glad though that you and are able

to enjoy the Special Olympics.

Marisa

[Guest guest]

Hi Marisa,

I'm sorry to hear all the bad stories regarding Special Olympics. I just

picked up a brochure about them since Hannah would be able to be involved in

about a year and a half. But what we have done the last two summers is bowling.

Last summer I gotta say that it was very tiring practically doing hand over

hand with Hannah but since she's obsessed with balls she did watch it going all

the way down the alley to knock the pins down. We also use one of those

handicap ramps. She goes over and gets a green ball (the lightweight 6-lb. ball)

and

carries it over to the ramp which her sister sets up for her puts it on there

and rolls it down. I'm just amazed. Last year she didn't push the ball down

the ramp she licked it! Maybe it brings good luck - who knows. We go during

the day when it's not so busy. Having free bowling passes for the summer doesn't

hurt either.

In regards to swimming I saw a story years ago on TV that showed them

teaching toddlers and babies how to flip over on their back and float if they

fell

in a pool. From this they then teach swimming. Does anybody know what I'm

talking about? I would like Hannah to be able to learn this if possible since

she

loves water.

a

(Mom to Drew 12 Tourettes/OCD who has been driving me crazy today

obsessing over Hannah's schedule, Marissa 8 Middle-child syndrome, Hannah 6

DS/Aut)

[Guest guest]

Wow - so Joan, if you the " Global Co-Advisor " are flying somewhere and your

plane is delayed - are you then " globally delayed " ? : )

Thanks for the info. If and when we get involved it'll help me not give up

so early.

a

[Guest guest]

At 01:16 AM 7/25/2003 -0400, you wrote:

>Wow - so Joan, if you the " Global Co-Advisor " are flying somewhere and your

>plane is delayed - are you then " globally delayed " ? : )

Dunno...I " m globally delayed with out the help of a plane. I'm never on time!

I " m also globally uncoordinated! (like I fit in with the coaches?!? NOT!)

[Guest guest]

we do a few activitities with SO, but mostly we just do activities with

nathan, as he has a food obesseion and overweight issues are always high, eh

goes swimming all summer and usues his trampoline during through out the

year almost daily, this year i may see about a mamebeship at a ymca, but its

in the neighboring town, about 20-30min away, so unsure as of yet. Each

year as we do special olympics, ive noticed that they dont really have much

of programs for kids like ours, in the middle, they have many for the high

functioning individuals, and also for the sever and profound, but its hard

to do much with nathan who functions in the moderate level of cognition.

shawna.

Special Olympics

> Marisa,

> We have had a very similar experience with Special Olympics. Our

> county's program has mostly very high functioning athletes and the teams

are

> extremely competetive. The only program that works well for Craig and

that has a

> variety of athletes is bowling. Even that can be hard on some of the

kids;

> these use these buzzer things that go off when you step over the line, and

then

> you lose your score for that turn. But the kids that need them can use

ramps,

> and there are several lower functioning kids that participate in the

program.

> Craig enjoys basketball but can just participate in the drills; he likes

to

> shoot baskets and practice dribbling and throwing/catching (nowhere on

Maddie's

> level though-ha ha!!). So I signed him up and my husband took him. I

spoke

> to the coach ahead of time and said he wouldn't be able to participate in

a

> game and if they had groups that just did drills. I was reassured this

was the

> case. Well my husband go there and it just wasn't true...there were

drills

> for a while then a full fledged, fast paced game. And there weren't any

open

> courts to practice drills. A game is way beyond Craig's comprehension,

and we

> can't risk him being hit in the head or eye with a ball (he has only one

eye),

> so that was the end of that program. I told my husband I would call again

to

> try to work things out, but he was so discouraged they never went back.

Craig

> loves to swim but they were so strict there too; once Craig got into the

> water and was so happy he started to jump up and down, and was

immmediately

> reprimanded. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!! These teams want to WIN, not just

have happy

> participants. With encouragement, Craig could have really excelled in

that

> program (at his level, of course) but the coach just didn't let that

happen.

> There may be other good programs in our county that allow more for " our "

kids,

> but Craig is limited because of the eye problem, so we haven't been able

to try

> them. Keeping him fit is so important to me (kids with his syndrome tend

to

> become quite overweight as they get older and I want to avoid that at all

> costs) but SO just isn't the ticket for us. Sorry to ramble....this is a

BIG pet

> peeve of mine!! Bev mom to Craig, 17,

> Magenis Syndrome, in PA

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/6/2003 6:56:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

ckc@... writes:

> Haven't written for a while, but I'm writing today with a brag. We saw Ian

> this afternoon at a Special Olympics soccer/softball even in Seneca Falls,

> about a third of the way between us and Pathfinder Village. When we heard

> he was going to be so close to us, we knew we had to go see him. He did the

> soccer skills event, and he got the gold medal!

Hi Ck,

Great accomplishment for Ian, you must have been so proud of him. I hate

leaving Zeb to go to work I can't imagine how hard it is.

Charlyne

Mom to Zeb 10 DS/OCD ?

[Guest guest]

Maverick participated in every Sp. O activity offered and has loved it. He is

now 20 and has been able to participate since he was 8. He is not in school

anymore so he has joined the adult SP. O group that is in for Track and

Field, basketball and bowling. He is on another team for Softball and will be

doing Field Hockey this winter. He was asked to be on a swimming team but it

is the same weekend as his county softball tournament. We are so grateful that

so many opportunities are offered to him. They help keep him active,

competitive, and he has wonderful socialization with so many in those

activities.

has joined a team that participates in bowling, basketball and track and

field. He is not the social person that Maverick is but he loves the events and

participation. In the past he also played Sp. O softball and soccer but this

year his legs hurt him too much to be that active. EVERY Tuesday night he has

his bowling team and looks forward to that, esp now that Maverick joins him.

Logan participated last year when he was 8 for the first time. He loves bowling

and to have him on a team is great. We do have to transport him to another

school to participate in Sp. O since there are no other students at his school

who participate in Sp. O. He enjoys being with his friends that he used to go

to school with when he goes for practice but is very happy to say good bye and

head back to his home school. He has participated in bowling and track and

field so far but I see him participating in all the events that Mav did and

being just as competitive.

I think having our kids involved in Sp. O is great in so many ways and I think

it is wonderful that they offer unified, segregated and even just skills for the

of the world who can not play a full game as basketball but is able to

participate by showing his skills at traveling, shooting and passing.

Again, I have said it a million times.. YOU are the parents and YOU know what

works for your child. Get out there and find it or build it or whatever....

just because all of our kids have down syndrome does not mean they all will

enjoy bowling or not do well with unified or whatever.

Work it.. Work it ... WORK IT.. so your child has the opportunity that you know

they deserve.