Hi folks!

In the first blog of this series back in May 2022 I wrote about the amazing experience I had being part of the team supporting the Isle of Man Special Olympic athletes attend the Malta Invitational Games. In that blog I spoke about the power and importance of friendship.

Having recently returned from the Special Olympic World Games in Berlin in June 2023, again as part of the team supporting our athletes, I would like to write this time about what a wonderful movement the Special Olympics is and about its most important message- inclusion and visibility.

The recent World Games in Berlin was the largest sporting event in the world this year. 7,000 athletes competed from nearly 200 countries. 5,000 coaches and support staff, 20,000 volunteers and a global audience of millions.

With an opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium to the Closing Ceremony at Brandenburg Gate. And in between 30 different sports competed in over the course of ten days. It was a truly unforgettable experience for all of us who had the privilege to be part of the experience.

Away from the showcase World Games the Special Olympics (SO) movement encompasses over 6 million athletes worldwide with learning or intellectual disabilities, competing in hundreds of competitions annually. The Special Olympic World Games like it’s counterparts the Olympics and the Paralympics are about sporting endeavour and achievement. But unlike it’s sister events it is about much more than just sport.

Behind the competitive events themselves is an organisation that is striving to champion the cause for a more inclusive society for people with learning or intellectual disabilities. Through education, empowerment and real change the Special Olympics flies the flag for equality, inclusion and representation. There are programs, schemes and organisations under the SO umbrella which aim to radically improve the position that people with learning disabilities currently occupy within our societies. Along with endeavours designed to help improve health and wellbeing.

For example- there is an organisation within Special Olympics called Healthy Athletes Healthy Athletes (specialolympics.org) which provides free health screening and treatment services for all athletes in attendance at large SO sporting events.

So far over 2,000,000 health screenings have been delivered, and over 300,000 health professionals have been trained. It is well documented that people with learning disabilities do not receive the same level of healthcare as their non-disabled peers (Learning Disability - Health Inequalities Research | Mencap).

The Healthy Athletes programme in Berlin provided (amongst five other screening services) free sight and hearing tests- with glasses and hearing devices delivered to those that needed them the very next day. This provided superb healthcare opportunities- particularly so for those delegations from developing countries. The programme additionally enables the largest research and tracking opportunities globally in regard to the health of people with learning disabilities- a vital element in pressuring governments and health organisations to recognise and act upon the current inequalities faced. This is a hugely effective and influential part of the Special Olympics movement which is providing real change not only for the present but for the future.

The Special Olympic movement also provides real opportunities for inclusion for people with learning disabilities. The Athletes Leadership programme (Athlete Leadership (specialolympicsgb.org.uk)) has been developed to promote and facilitate the chance (through training, education and awareness, and leadership positions within the organisation) to ensure that athletes are not only recipients of opportunity but contributors. Athletes are enabled to gravitate beyond their role of competitors into the realms of job opportunities within the movement, and seats at decision-making tables. A pro-active approach to inclusion which I am fully in favour of (see my previous blog on disability and employment- Disability Awareness • Blog • Disability and Employment).

An experience in Berlin which was particularly inspiring to me was in regard to the volunteers who helped the Games to happen (and without which it really wouldn’t happen- volunteers are heroes in every sense of the word!). As mentioned there were 20,000 volunteers recruited- and I observed that many of the volunteers were adults with learning disabilities themselves. Working independently or with support from others.

Greeters, Food & Drink operatives, Information & Direction providers. People with learning disabilities supporting and playing their part in a global event of importance. Germany is a world leader with regard to making inclusion not just a goal but an achievable reality. It was inclusion in a real way, and a great inspiration. Something that we could all learn from- real and direct ways towards actual inclusion. Again- what this signified to me was the notion of people with learning disabilities not just being the recipients of care and support, but actual contributors. I know for those athletes in attendance this was a huge inspiration. For me it was life-affirming and frustrating in a way that's difficult to fully articulate. It was a surprise and delight for me to see people with learning disabilities volunteering in such large numbers. Often with support from carers and other volunteers- but being a vital and needed part of the ensemble. But it also made me feel sad and despondent that this doesn't happen all the time. Why doesn't it? Because those in power don't think deeply enough to consider it. And because those of us who work with people with learning disabilities don't advocate loudly enough for it. Something for us to reflect on and act upon.

What will remain with me longer than any of other experiences I had during the Games though is this- the sheer VISILIBILITY of people with learning disabilities. Everywhere we went in Berlin during our stay we saw and met with athletes from around the world. Making new friends, meeting old friends- being together. At the sporting events obviously. But also at street parties, festival events, walking about the city and on every mode of public transport we took. The city was buzzing! On reflection 7,000 athletes in a city of 3.7 million people is only a very small number- but it felt more than that- and it felt like they all belonged in that city and were part of it. They felt present in a way that we don’t usually see.

The motto and message of these Games was ‘Unbeatable Together and Co-existence For All’. A very valiant and prescient message. Yet for me there was also another message- that of a worldwide community of people with learning disabilities having the chance to see each other and be with each other. To be proud of their own community and solidarity during their time in Berlin. For a community that is often isolated within their own countries and local communities, this opportunity for them to be seen and heard on a global scale will stay with me forever. And I believe it will for the athletes who were able to experience it.

It encouraged me to reflect on the importance of being able to be with people with similar experiences and lives to their own. Something many of us may take for granted, but still not an opportunity that many people with learning disabilities have.

If there is a message in this blog (other than to let you all know about what a wonderful organisation the Special Olympics is- please do support it and if you can- be part of it!) it is to promote and support the visibility of people with learning disabilities within our communities- wherever that may be. And to ensure that opportunities are available for our learning disabled community to be a real part of our society. Not only part of it either- but central to it. And not just for those 7,000 athletes chosen to represent their countries in Berlin, nor the 6,000,000 athletes within the Special Olympics family- but the estimated 200 million people with learning or intellectual disabilities around the world (Disabled People in the World: Facts and Figures (inclusivecitymaker.com))

So- for those of you with a learning disability- strive every day to be a part of your community! You have a supreme right to do so. You are living in a society that opens up to you more and more each and every day. And yet still hasn’t caught up with how brilliant, incredible and integral you are to the world. You have every right to be visible- so make it happen!

And for those of you who work with, care for or support people with a learning disability- do all that you can to ensure that they are supported to be so. Real change comes from visibility. It is your responsibility to make this happen- so make it happen! And it really is your responsibility- without your help many of the people you work with simply cannot make their part in their community be known. They need your help and support to do so- be accountable for this, and do everything you can to help.

For the ten days we spent in Berlin this became a reality. For those ten days the 7,000 athletes in attendance were the most important people in Berlin- with the eyes of the world admiring and seeing them. Let this become part of our everyday existence.

I want to thank Special Olympics Isle of Man for enabling me to be part of such an amazing worldwide organisation. I have worked with people with disabilities for my whole career and the experiences that the Special Olympics has afforded me have shown me a future which I can be very excited about. Real change comes from visibility.