Driven to Win

I was driven to win
Because of who I am
Not because of what I look like
Not because I learn slower
Not because I’m handicapped
But, because I try to do my best
At whatever I do ever day

I am driven to win
To try and win that gold medal
At the State Games
To show others
That anything is possible
All you got to do is try
And you will achieve
What none other could

I am driven to win
Because of what
God made me to be
And no one can stop me
From doing what
God made me to do

I was driven to win
Because we all are
Miracles from God
Especially those that are different
To show others
What can be achieved
When kids are in Special Olympics

SO COLLEGE

Are you in? Are you a fan of dignity? Of acceptance? Of the humanity of all people, regardless of ability? If so, it is time you joined our network of college and university students supporting Special Olympics.

Connecting People Together

SO College connects hotspots of college student involvement with individuals with intellectual disabilities and the social movement for their benefit. Created by college students for college students, the network seeks the membership of campus groups who share the common goals of enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and building a more accepting world for all.

The movement has already started. Sign up today!

Mission: The SO College network unites college students to enhance the lives of people with intellectual disabilities through sports, friendship, advocacy and other activities.


What YOU Can Do

Make a difference in a special person's life and fill out the SO College application today!

Get in touch with Special Olympics near you to see what you can do to help.

Follow Special Olympics online through Twitter, Facebook and our own Fan Community.

Donate money to keep Special Olympics programs going.

Contribute five minutes to take the pledge to stop using "retard" as an insult.

Know someone with an intellectual disability? Refer them to a Special Olympics program nearby

Join the group on Facebook.

Coped from

Remembering Eunice Kennedy Shriver

Eunice Kennedy Shriver Tribute - Founder of Special Olympics

Indiana Oct. 17th '09 Fall Classic – Distance Run & Walk

Learn how to Waltz - Ballroom Dancing

I alway's wanted to try Ballroom Dancing. Indiana I think is the first to offer Ballroom. You can find more info. at http://www.soindiana.org/Sports/SportsOffered/BallroomDancing/tabid/261/Default.aspx

YOUNG ATHLETES

Imagine a 7-year-old child, unsure, introverted and afraid to speak up and ask to play with other children. Now imagine that same child, happy, active and laughing as he runs around the playing field with his new friends.

Introduction to the World of Sport:
Through Young Athletes, volunteers introduce young children to the world of sport, with the goal of preparing them for Special Olympics sports training and competition when they get older. The program focuses on the basics that are crucial to cognitive development: physical activities that develop motor skills and hand-eye coordination, and the application of these physical skills through sports skills programs.

Improved social skills is another inspiring reason parents enroll their children in Young Athletes. The confidence boost makes it easier for them to interact with other children on the playground, whether or not they have intellectual disabilities.

An Amazing Program:
After watching her son Brendan participate, Colleen Popp of Delaware, USA, observed with a proud smile, “Brendan has changed physically and socially on many levels since he has participated in this program. He's jumping; he's running; he's hitting balls; he's running bases. He's shown a lot of interest socially with his friends and with his typical peers. It's been an amazing program so far.”

Reports from parents are encouraging, and the science looks promising, too. Special Olympics commissioned the University of Massachusetts to conduct a study of Young Athletes pilot sites to learn more about the program’s benefits. Preliminary findings suggest that participation in Young Athletes may lead to improvements in motor development, social and emotional development and communication development.

"Sports play a critical role in the health and development of all children, including those with disabilities."
Hon. Ann Veneman, Executive Director, UNICEF

Found here

On intellectual disability as term by "Wikipedia"

They and other dictionary's will not stop using the r-word in till Congress says otherwise.

NOTE: I switch out MR for ID.

Intellectual disability is a generalized disorder, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before the age of 18. Once focused almost entirely on cognition, the definition now includes both a component relating to mental functioning and one relating to individuals' functional skills in their environment.

IQ below 70
The first English-language IQ test, the Terman-Binet, was adapted from an instrument used to measure potential to achieve developed by Binet in France. Terman translated the test and employed it as a means to measure intellectual capacity based on oral language, vocabulary, numerical reasoning, memory, motor speed and analysis skills. The mean score on the currently available IQ tests is 100, with a standard deviation of 15 (WAIS/WISC-IV) or 16 (Stanford-Binet). Sub-average intelligence is generally considered to be present when an individual scores two standard deviatons below the test mean. Factors other than cognitive ability (depression, anxiety, etc.) can contribute to low IQ scores; it is important for the evaluator to rule them out prior to concluding that measured IQ is "significantly below average".
The following ranges, based on Standard Scores of intelligence tests, reflect the categories of the American Association of Mental Retardation, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-TR, and the International Classification of Diseases-10:

Class / IQ
Profound ID Below 20
Severe ID 20–34
Moderate ID 35–49
Mild ID 50–69
Borderline intellectual functioning 70–80

Since the diagnosis is not based only on IQ scores, but must also take into consideration a person's adaptive functioning, the diagnosis is not made rigidly. It encompasses intellectual scores, adaptive functioning scores from an adaptive behavior rating scale based on descriptions of known abilities provided by someone familiar with the person, and also the observations of the assessment examiner who is able to find out directly from the person what he or she can understand, communicate, and the like.

Found at Wikipedia
OR MR

Do you know what’s it’s like to be different in a good way?

I do, I am one of them. I was born with Cerebral Hypertonia (an upper motor neuron dysfunction marked by an abnormal increase in tightness of muscle tone and a reduced ability of a muscle to stretch (i.e. an increased stiffness). Hypertonia is usually a feature of spasticity in particular muscles. These features are common in cerebral palsy).

I had a lot of therapy when I was little. I went to Purdue's Gym & Swim (I really liked the swimming part). I had therapy in school in till the last part of middle school. Deb, who was my therapist in school; new me sense I was two.

I was tough goings on in high school. I went to Lafayette Jeff and was in some Special Ed classes & basic classes (step above Special Ed).

still working on

Believe

Believe you can do anything
You put your mind to.

Believe in yourself
Because you are made in His image
And He wants you to do your best at whatever you do.

Believe you can reach the stars when you’re jumping.

Believe you can swim the English Channel
When you’re swimming a 100 free.

Believe you can bounce to the top of the moon
While you are playing bocce ball.

Believe you can hit the volleyball to the sun.

Believe you can put the horseshoe to dust.

Believe you can throw the basketball to the moon.

But most of all believe in yourself,
Because you are who you make yourself to be.
If you believe in yourself,
Then you can do and accomplish anything.