Racing in the Special Olympics

I love watching sports. It's always fun to watch some good competition, the amazing players, and enjoy the entertainment. But what ever happened to all those people who weren't born as superstars? Or had some sort of birth defect? Or maybe developed some kind of disability? Why do we as people only watch the "able-bodied" play sports when there are people with disabilities doing the same thing? In fact, according to the Special Olympics "in 2013, more than 81,000 competitions took place around the world, averaging 222 games a day and nine games an hour." Despite these astounding numbers, I must admit not once have I seen any of these games on TV. Not that I don't want to, but as people we have become so concentrated on only those who can perform at the top level disability-free.

Nancy Mairs, in her piece "Disability", brings up a very similar question about how people with disabilities are underrepresented in the media. The more we focus on just the able-bodied the more ignorant we become about the number of people with disabilities that live around us. 

When kids with disabilities watch the "able-bodied" play sports, they shouldn't feel limited. Rather they need to watch other people with disabilities living out their dreams playing sports, so that they have a role-model to look up to. The narrow-minded nature of us people force this kind of change in society to be difficult. We have so long lived in our own reality where we surround ourselves with people who are "able-bodied" making us oblivious to the 1 in 5 people around us that does live with a disability. These people shouldn't be forced into a minority role in society because of something they can't control. However, they also shouldn't be sympathized with to the point where we make them feel like they need our help. Finding the right balance between sympathy and acceptance will allow these people to live their lives freely rather 

than being in the constant struggle to try and fit in. 

Sources: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/features/key-findings-community-prevalence.html

http://resources.specialolympics.org/Topics/Research/Program_Research_Toolkit/Demographics.aspx