Special Olympics is important to the author because several family members have special needs. The author's uncle, cousin, and sister all face mental or emotional disabilities. Special Olympics gives people with intellectual disabilities an environment to feel normal and participate in sports. It has offered competitions in Olympic-style sports since 1968 to improve the lives of those with disabilities. The author began helping with Special Olympics after seeing family members like her cousin Steven bullied, and realized the positive impact it had on the children's lives.

1. Breana McDaniel
Special Olympics
While being asked what interested me a lot of things came to mind but the
one that stuck out the most was Special Olympics. Special Olympics is a very
touchy subject for me. While most people just stray away from kids with
disabilities, I stand up for them. To me kids and adults with disabilities are no
different from anyone else. Yes, they may have some mental problems but don’t
we all? I will begin to tell you why Special Olympics are so close to my heart. See
some of my family members have special needs. My 37 year old Uncle, Steven Sr
can’t read and has a hard time writing and he stutters but does that make him
any less of a person than me or you? No, it just takes him a little longer to get his
sentences out. Next my 20 year old Cousin, Steven Jr is labeled MR (mentally
Retarded). He may be 20 but in reality his mind is probably like a 13 year old boy
but that hasn’t stopped him. He graduated high school and got his license and has
held a normal job at UVA. Next, my 15 year old cousin, Jeffrey, has a lot of
problems. He has ADHD and he is Bipolar and is on a lot of medication. Jeffrey
strives for the feeling of being loved. He doesn’t show affection much but when
he wants to he will hug you and whatever you do, just hug him back or it could be

2. bad. For example he use to attend Red hill Elementary School and his teacher was
Mrs. Grogan. All he wanted was a hug and she knew about the problems Jeffrey
was facing and she refused to hug him and just picked on him in class so he got so
fed up with her and ended up throwing a desk at her and put her in the hospital.
Since he is Bipolar, his mood can change at any point in time. Jeffrey will go from
the most caring and loving boy to cussing you out in a matter of seconds. His
biological mother abused him when he was just a little baby, that’s where all the
anger he has comes from. He doesn’t attend a regular public school. He goes to
Ivy Creek. That’s a school for kids who have anger issues and who can’t do well in
a big class and some of the kids there even have disabilities, but what’s the
difference? He just isn’t in a class of 28 kids; he’s in a class of 8 or 10 kids. The
final person in my family that has special needs is my 11 year old sister Savannah.
She also has ADHD and depression. She acts out in class only for attention. She
may not do so well at times in school but she loves to draw and dance. She also
loves to participate in the fundraisers at her school.
When looking at a person who has special needs, we are often quick to
judge them on appearance and not what is on the inside. Most of the people who
have disabilities only want to feel like a “normal” person. The Special Olympics
creates an environment that allows the kids and adults to think they are normal

3. just for a little while. Since 1968, Special Olympics have been offering women,
men, and children with intellectual disabilities year-round training and
competitions in Olympic-style sports. There are 30 different local areas programs.
They offer 10 different sports in Area 3 (Albemarle), like Golf, Soccer, Skiing,
Bowling, Gymnastics, Basketball, Swimming, Track and Field, Tennis and
Volleyball. To participate in these sports there are requirements that someone
has to meet. They have to be at least eight years of age, have been identified by
an agency or professional as having an intellectual disability, a cognitive delay, or
a closely related developmental disability, and have registered to participate in
Special Olympics. In some cases some children aren’t eligible to participate as a
Special Olympic athlete and that includes a person whose functional limitations
are based solely on physical, behavioral, or emotional disability or a specific
learning or sensory disability.
Steven Jr started the Special Olympics program when he was 12 years old.
He started out with baseball and then went to basketball then bowling. Jeffrey
started at the age of 9 with the same sports. My Pawpaw (my nanny’s husband)
was one of the coaches. My Uncle soon joined as a coach. Then my other Uncle
Roger joined also. Watching kids make fun of my family and bully them upset me.
I watched a teenage boy and girl on my bus hit Steven in the back of the head

4. multiple times and the bus driver didn’t do anything about it. Steven came home
with bruises and the side of his head was swollen. Being a parent, Steven’s Mom
went to the head of supervisors and got the boy and girl suspended off the bus.
Steven won’t stand up for himself, just like most kids. Jeffrey on the other hand
can handle his own and more. He doesn’t play around. After watching all this and
seeing how the other kids enjoyed the spots they were passionate about I joined
the team of Special Olympic helpers. Helping out with these kids wasn’t a job. I
didn’t wake up on Saturday mornings and say, “I don’t want to go see these kids”.
It was actually a great way to spend my weekends. These kids will put a smile on
your face, you just have to give them a chance and most people don’t. My point
here is that if you judge someone solely on appearance, you will never know what
they are truly like on the inside. All I ask is that before you go and say a hurtful
thing about a special needs child, is realize they are dying to be just like you and
you never know, if you give one of them a chance, they may change your life, just
like my team did.