A list of things more evil than taking money away from an amazing organization.
There are none.
I strongly believe you should be fired because of this.
As a student who is training to be a special education teacher, I am very angry, mad, hurt, disappointed, and so many other things.
As a person who is in an education position, a position of power over the education of the U.S., you are totally wrong about your budget.
You are wanting to cut the budget for special education students. 272,000 kids will be affected by this budget cut. The Special Olympics is one of the only outlets for these students to participate in. These students who participate in it cannot participate in regular sports because of their disabilities. You are also wanting to cut the budget for blind students (in multiple areas) and deaf students. From their textbooks, to resources, to one of the best Blind and Deaf Colleges (Gallaudet University).
Do you know that these students will eventually be contributing members of society? Do you know that they learn life lessons from these events just like other students? Also, did you know that these programs are where these students find most of their happiness? They are learning, they are winning, and they are being kids while embracing their disabilities.
Ms. DeVos, anyone and everyone in education knows that you have to think about EVERY SINGLE STUDENT. By cutting this budget you are not. You are thinking about all the other things except for the students who need this budget the most. I am highly disappointed and think you need to be removed from office. These students will be contributing members of society and will be the best person they can be.
"Spirit is defined by perseverance, and Special Olympics is the embodiment of that." - Kevin M. McDermont
I'm not the person who typically writes about topics that deal with politics, but the budget that Betsy Devos purposed earlier this week transcends politics. The fact that her budget purposes the slashing of funding for Special Olympics in the field of education is a topic that concerns each and every one of us. At its heart, Special Olympics strives to provide equal opportunities to ALL people. What Betsy Devos is purposing takes that and throws it out the window.
I will be quite honest, I haven't done a significant amount of research on her budget or exactly what it says about slashing funds for Special Olympics, but that doesn't matter. The fact of the matter is that if this bill passes it ostracizes an entire population of people from enjoying the freedoms of participating in sports. Not to mention, it is essentially saying that the Special Olympics program isn't worth funding. If we are saying that, then what does that say about how we view those athletes who participate in Special Olympics? They're inferior to us? If that's what we are trying to say, then I'm sorry but we've gotten something royally screwed up along the way.
For us to sit here and take away this program from thousands of students all over the United States will NEVER be OK. I may not know a lot about budgeting or what exactly Betsy Devos purposed for other programs, but I can take a wild guess that other sports programs were not purposed to be slashed. If that is the truth, I'm sorry but that is not right at all. The people that participate in Special Olympics are no different than you and me. They are humans just as we are, and they deserve to be treated as so. They deserve to have the exact same opportunities that everyone else has, including athletics!
I truly don't understand how the United States Secretary of Education could, or would, ever think this is a program that should be defunded, or have funds taken from them, in any capacity. I may not have the understanding of someone who has spent years looking over budgets and having to make hard decisions on where to pull funds or add funds, but this I will take a stance on. I have a number of friends who have siblings who participate in Special Olympics and they are just as special and important as any football player who's working towards a Division 1 scholarship.
At the end of the day what this comes down to is how we view others who appear to be "different" than we are. If we saw the athletes that participated in the Special Olympics on the same level as the high school athletes that hundreds of people come out to see under the blinding lights on a Friday night this wouldn't even be a topic of discussion. But the reality is we don't have eyes like God does all the time. We fail to see each other as equals and that's where the entirety of the problem lies. I'm not saying this as someone who has all the answers or has it all figured out, but as someone who realizes that this is an issue and desperately needs to be fixed. So America, let's wake up and get with the times. Let's start seeing each other as equals and stop showing so much partiality.
To Betsy Devos, and anyone else working on this budget, I beg of you to please reconsider the slashing of funds from Special Olympics programs. These students deserve to be able to have a place where they can participate in sports and be shown that they are just as important as anyone else. I know it's not a simple fix and it requires a lot of hard decisions to be made, but I think as human beings this is something we need to stand up for. Keep Special Olympics in school unless you are prepared to defund all athletic programs. That's all I'm trying to say.
You aren't your mental illness.
For my honor's thesis my freshman year of college, I did a project very near and dear to my heart. In high school, I worked with children with autism religiously. Ironically, my friendship with these students began by a mistake. There was a class at my school called Unified Sports. In this class, students without autism worked with students with autism to help them engage in physical activity and develop social skills. Initially, I didn't want to be a part of the class.
I had never worked with kids with autism before… and frankly, I was scared I was going to mess up and hurt one of their feelings. But it only took one class period for me to realize that this class was going to be a new essential part of my life. That was my freshman year of high school, and after that first day of class, I worked with my kids every day until the day I graduated,
Needless to say, when you spend that much time with someone, you get attached. These kids are wonderful, in my opinion, they are actually usually better than people without autism. They knew how to love better than anyone I had ever met. There was no judgment, there were no cliques. They had big personalities and even bigger hearts. What they lacked in the thing's society values so much, they made up for with humanity that is so rare nowadays. So that's why it hurt so bad to see them defined by one "ailment".
One of the girls in the class was mute and non-responsive to social interaction. However, when you asked any kid in the class who their best friend was, they would say. her. She had something about her that just made the other kids feel. understood. She didn't talk, but she connected with them in a way that no one else could.
One day, she came in with a bracelet that said, "I AM AUTISTIC". I was heartbroken. This wonderful girl, who had so many amazing qualities, was defined by one word that barely played any part in her presence in the world. She was autistic… but she was also loving, funny, exuberant, dedicated… she was so much more than her mental illness.
But aren't we all? Her bracelet got me thinking, people who have mental illnesses often lose the chance to define themselves. They are trapped in stereotypes formed by others and self-hate formed by themselves. It's not fair.
I began the "I AM _____" project. The idea behind my project was this: If you could choose one word that the world would see you for, what would it be? I reached out to my community and asked for people with mental illnesses to step forward and tell their story. I asked what their illness was, how it affected their lives, what three words they felt that their illness defined them as, and what three words they hoped to be defined as.
The number of people who responded was shocking. I had sorority girls, adults, young children and everything in between. People who had permanently messed up their bodies or lost their jobs because they couldn't break past that mental barrier. People who were so good and beautiful…but couldn't see a bit of it. I saw these astounding people full of so much disappointment in themselves…. And it sucked. I just didn't understand how the people I found so wonderful couldn't see the same in themselves.
I shared their stories (with their permission). I compiled a book of their answers and a short documentary. When I presented my project, I wanted to leave the audience with one thought- you aren't your mental illness. You have bipolar disorder, you aren't bipolar. You have depression, you aren't depressed. You have autism, you aren't autistic. In each one of us, there is so much more than one word can possibly summarize.
Please, never reduce yourself or anyone else to one word. Never let one thing about you completely change who you view yourself to be. You are a combination of every part of yourself, every flaw and every gift. Don't be ashamed of any part of yourself. Without autism, the girl who started my project would never have made the impact she did on my kids. Every part of you is there for some purpose. It is up to you to find that purpose, just like it is up to you to choose your own "I AM ____".
Supporting such a great foundation has been an incredible experience.
It is evident that people with an intellectual disability face a difficult, uphill battle to achieve acceptance and other benefits of society that most people take for granted. The Special Olympics is such an important tool for these people, which I have recently had the privilege to learn first hand.
Each year, the Towson swim and dive team helps coach and work personally with a Special Olympics program. We set aside a Saturday morning after practice each month to work with local Special Olympians in the pool. This consists of providing them with practice and helping them complete it to the best of their ability.
Our team coming together to support such an important foundation is truly the best feeling. It is incredibly moving to not only meet the athletes, but actually get to know them. We spend so much time talking and working with these Special Olympic athletes on how to get better, and it makes the meet hosted for them at the end of their season even more heartwarming for us to witness.
This past weekend, our team hosted and competed against Drexel University's swim and dive team. We had a break during the meet to bring in all of our Special Olympians to each race in one event of their choice. From the moment all of them walked onto the pool deck, the joy they brought was naturally contagious. There is just something so sincere about each of these Special Olympians' smiles that when all of them were together sharing the spotlight, the place was radiating positivity. It made me realize that everyone was there to simply celebrate the ability of these people, instead of focus on disability.
The opportunity to help Special Olympians become better at the sport I love made me realize so much. After high school, most Special Olympic athletes do not get the opportunity to compete anymore on teams or individually as I do, which is why unified sports events are so crucial. Teaching these Special Olympic athletes how to compete and seeing how excited they could be reminded me to enjoy the competition I am so lucky to be surrounded with.
The image of our home pool exploding with joy and energy for these Special Olympians who were so proud to be competing in a race is forever engrained in my mind.
Spread the word to end the word.
As we're approaching the beginning of the New Year, it's time to start thinking about those New Year's resolutions. Usually these resolutions we make revolve around a desire to change a bad habit of ours. Whether it's trying to stop eating unhealthy or spend less money, we all have bad habits that we should try to kick in the butt this coming up year.
One bad habit I think people should leave in 2018 is the use of derogatory words, especially the use of the 'R' word (retarded).
Some of you may be thinking what's wrong with 'retard'? I don't mean it in an offensive way. And most of the time, this is the truth. When people use this word in casual conversation, it is not in an offensive way directed towards mentally challenged people. It is said in a way to even further exaggerate the meaning of 'stupid' or 'dumb'. The dictionary itself even has two definitions for it; a dated formal definition which reads: "less advanced in mental, physical, or social development than is usual for one's age" and an informal, offensive version (yes, Webster's even uses the term offensive) which reads: very foolish or stupid.
To those of you who can't seem to understand what's wrong with saying the word if you don't mean it in a derogatory way, I can only begin to explain what's wrong with it to someone like me who has grown up with a sister with Down Syndrome.
The 'R' word is considered hate speech because it offends and excludes people with developmental and intellectual disabilities as well as the people who care for them.
People with these types of disabilities already feel so alienated from society because of their apparent differences. Imagine how they feel when they hear people use a word related to their disabilities to mock something or someone that is "dumb" or "stupid". It makes them feel excluded and it takes 100 steps back from the world trying to come together in unity and accept everyone for their differences.
Again, maybe I'm bias considering I have grown up with my sister having special needs so that word affects me more than most people. But I think if everyone took into consideration the feelings of these amazing individuals and realized the impact it has on them and the people who care about them, ending the use of the word could truly be an epidemic.
And for those of you who are on the same page as me and everyone else offended by this word, make it known! If you hear someone say the word and if it's nails on a chalkboard like it is for me, there's nothing wrong with politely saying, "Yikes, that word is so offensive, there are so many other words you could say other than that" and it might really open someone's eyes.
So before the 'R' word or any other derogatory word rolls off your tongue, think of the 100 other words you could use instead rather than potentially hurting someone around you.
