Special Olympics Washington offers an incredible opportunity for people with and without disabilities to grow. Creating leadership opportunities, developing the athletic skills of athletes across the board and bridging gaps between their organization and other organizations like ESPN that slowly caught on board to movement like this that aren’t simply about professional sports. What I have learned from my research is that Special Olympics truly does empower individuals and has strong connections to their success as individuals outside of sports.
The need to promote and create Inclusive spaces for people with disabilities in Washington State is great. Specifically in Western Washington where the disability rate of Children 5-17 years old ranges …show more content…
al., 2009). This can be explained by further research in to inclusive classrooms and inclusive spaces. A 1986 study found that though life had improved for disabled people who were allowed in public schools, “they were less frequently in social activities and were less often involved in community life than non disabled people” (Harris, 1986, in; Florian, 2005). Researcher Lani Florian goes on to examine the studies taken on by nobel prize winning welfare economist Amartya Sen who outlines the capability approach. It is imperative for her that inclusion emphasize “a person may have their basic needs met (wealth, education, care, etc) but still be unable to achieve well being if they are discriminated against within a given society” examining as an answer to this discrimination, that inclusion fosters basic humanity of people’s (Florian, …show more content…
UNIFIED programming is a way to create opportunities for engagement with the two populations and make a meaningful growth opportunity for both people. How do you simultaneously create an opportunity, however, that meets the needs of the leadership approach mentioned before and eliminates tiered mentorship situations? Popular methods outline Peer to Peer mentorship, peer buddy, and peer tutoring programs as ways for building success for students in inclusive environments. We have found in research however that “students with intellectual disabilities and without were less likely to socially interact in settings where the student with intellectual disabilities was receiving instruction” (Hughes et al., 2002, in; Siperstein et al., 2009). What programs in Special Olympics need to be aware of and promote is the cooperative learning approach. Research shows that “cooperative learning activities conducted in the classroom promote the notion of equal status among all participants, as each child is expected to contribute” this happens positively through shared decision making, working together, and helping one another (Jacques et al., 1998, in; Siperstein et al., 2009). Recreation programs have used activities like team games, cooking tasks and art projects to create “The perception of similarity, whether in terms of actual ability level or the ability to contribute equally to a given activity, [which]