Celebrating Disability Pride Month
What is Disability Pride Month?
Disability Pride Month is celebrated every July to commemorate the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law on July 26, 1990. The first Disability Pride Day was held in Boston in 1990, and the first official Disability Pride Month celebration was in July 2015 to mark the ADA’s 25th anniversary. Since then, cities across the country have held parades and other events to celebrate Disability Pride Month.
A Brief History of Special Olympics
The Special Olympics movement began in the 1950s and early 1960s when Eunice Kennedy Shriver noticed how unfairly people with intellectual disabilities were treated. Shriver believed that people with intellectual disabilities could accomplish more if given the same opportunities as everyone else. In 1962, she hosted a summer day camp in her backyard called “Camp Shriver” for young people with intellectual disabilities. She also directed the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation and was a driving force behind President John F. Kennedy’s White House panel on people with intellectual disabilities.
The first Special Olympics competition was held in Chicago’s Soldier Field in July 1968, and was intended to highlight ability, not disability. The event is described as “daybreak”, which marked the beginning of a global movement for people with intellectual disabilities.
Today, the Special Olympics World Games take place every two years and alternate between Summer and Winter Games, similar to the Olympics and Paralympics. These World Games can be the world’s largest sporting event of the year, attracting as many as 350,000 volunteers and coaches, plus several thousands of athletes.
What Does Disability Pride Month Mean to SONH?
We, at Special Olympics New Hampshire, signal support, respect and inclusion for our athletes. Our athletes have voices and individual choice in how they choose to identify. We are a sports organization, our participants are athletes, through sports, our athletes thrive, find success and feel included.
Yeah, I am Special!
Special:
EXCEPTIONALLY GREAT. IMPORTANT. UNIQUE. SPECIAL IS SOMETHING TO STRIVE FOR. THE ULTIMATE COMPLIMENT. A WORD WE CAN ALL HOPE TO BE CALLED. NOT FOR THE THINGS WE CANNOT DO. BUT FOR ALL THE THINGS THAT WE CAN.
“Special Olympics has helped me be the person I am today. I have become a better leader, friend and athlete. What I like most about Special Olympics that we all became family. As a result of being part of Special Olympics, I have been able to keep myself active, and advocate for myself and other Athletes.”
– Chelsea Schultz
“We were looking for a sports program for our son to feel welcomed and valued as an athlete and through SONH we found a community, a community where the whole family has found belonging, friends and support.“
Beth Lemieux, SONH Parent
“Special Olympics helped me get through grieving my brother’s death and helped me to trust people again after being bullied.
Special Olympics gave me the confidence to even apply to be an athlete representative on the Special Olympics New Hampshire Board of Directors. Because of Special Olympics New Hampshire, I am proud of who I am today. I am so thankful I got involved and because of Special Olympics, my quality of life has improved. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me!”
– Josh Janvrin
Special Olympics New Hampshire helped my son grow so much that the now lives independently, is employed at two jobs, drives his own car, and shares his life with a partner. He now says he is “living the dream.”
Special Olympics New Hampshire changed his life. Special Olympics New Hampshire helped him find his dream.”
Mark Thornton, SONH Parent
“Special Olympics has empowered me to feel confident in myself and to set and achieve goals I never imagined possible. My next goal is to become the first female long-distance runner for SONH at a national or international competition.
Special Olympics has provided me tremendous amounts of independence and growth. I am proud to say, last year at 36 years old, my parental guardianship was terminated and I am now my own guardian. My parents and I are so proud.
I am so unbelievably grateful for this organization and what it has provided to me. I can’t wait to see how my future unfolds.”
– Amy Spotts, SONH Athlete