vikingshadow
09-30-2006, 01:02 PM
Well, I had an extremely busy week this week (actually started last Saturday) and it topped off with my wife asking me if I'd like to volunteer to help at the Special Olympics. I was pretty bummed because it was such a tiring week and well, there's a reason I don't work with mentally and physically handicapped people. However, in an effort to spend some family time and do something good for the community, I said I would.
My wife and I were chosen to help with the bowling events...My wife worked with the special needs group in our town for 2-3 years about 12 years ago, so she's very good with them, but me - my exposure is limited to those who are capable of being in the classroom which aren't really handicapped in any way and tend to be learning disabled (although most are just discipline problems.) Needless to say, I felt very out of place with them, although I always, always tell myself they aren't icky and aren't to be shunned and such. Some just look bad, and tend to pick my wife and me out of a crowd because they know my wife so well. It takes a special person to work with people with disabilities such as I have seen....I'm also ashamed to say I'm not one of those people. Put them in a class and Whammo! I can teach them no problem, but in the public place in a public situation, well, you get the picture.
Anyway, they paired us up with a Special Olympics participant each, then put us in different groups of 3 teams. The participants ranged from people with mental handicaps to people with physical disabilities. The guy I was paired up with was somewhat blind and when he got excited, he tended to get majorly tongue tied and just shut down. He was also very excitable, but not the most disabled person there by a long ways. (A family friend runs the local group and I think she paired me up with him on purpose because she knows how I am...)
Now, I haven't bowled in about a year or two, and I wasn't ever that great - my college average was only 128, but it was the highest one of all the people in my class at that time (I didn't have to take the final exam for it! Talk about a pud class....) I've only bowled a few times since college, mainly just with my wife and the only thing I've tried to do is beat her - she was also in a bowling league and went to state several times, so yeah.
Anyways, the day and the guy I was paired up with was great! The participants were cheering each other on, no put downs, nothing. They got mad at themselves, but calmed down as soon as the next bowler participated. They clapped and cheered, they danced to the music - so much we had to actually calm them down to bowl, and quite honestly, I had a great time. They seemed so care free about everything - hugging, jumping up and down - they cheered loud even for the ones that lost! I was amazed. I found myself thinking that if paintball was like that, I might still be playing....but then brushed it quickly out of my mind because it's not and I wanted to focus on today.
My partner and I won a gold medal in our division! It's an actual metal medal and looks pretty cool! You can't see it too well, but it says, " Special Olympics - Skill Courage Sharing Joy" around the outside of the medal and has two people running on it. The other side has the Special Olympics emblem on it. Believe it or not, I'm more proud of this medal than I was on my last paintball trophy, because it was just so much fun! They told my wife and I that we might get to go to the District Special Olympics if we scored high enough...oh yeah, she and her partner won their division as well!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/vikingshadow/personal%20pictures/SpecialOlympicsmedal1.jpg
My wife and I were chosen to help with the bowling events...My wife worked with the special needs group in our town for 2-3 years about 12 years ago, so she's very good with them, but me - my exposure is limited to those who are capable of being in the classroom which aren't really handicapped in any way and tend to be learning disabled (although most are just discipline problems.) Needless to say, I felt very out of place with them, although I always, always tell myself they aren't icky and aren't to be shunned and such. Some just look bad, and tend to pick my wife and me out of a crowd because they know my wife so well. It takes a special person to work with people with disabilities such as I have seen....I'm also ashamed to say I'm not one of those people. Put them in a class and Whammo! I can teach them no problem, but in the public place in a public situation, well, you get the picture.
Anyway, they paired us up with a Special Olympics participant each, then put us in different groups of 3 teams. The participants ranged from people with mental handicaps to people with physical disabilities. The guy I was paired up with was somewhat blind and when he got excited, he tended to get majorly tongue tied and just shut down. He was also very excitable, but not the most disabled person there by a long ways. (A family friend runs the local group and I think she paired me up with him on purpose because she knows how I am...)
Now, I haven't bowled in about a year or two, and I wasn't ever that great - my college average was only 128, but it was the highest one of all the people in my class at that time (I didn't have to take the final exam for it! Talk about a pud class....) I've only bowled a few times since college, mainly just with my wife and the only thing I've tried to do is beat her - she was also in a bowling league and went to state several times, so yeah.
Anyways, the day and the guy I was paired up with was great! The participants were cheering each other on, no put downs, nothing. They got mad at themselves, but calmed down as soon as the next bowler participated. They clapped and cheered, they danced to the music - so much we had to actually calm them down to bowl, and quite honestly, I had a great time. They seemed so care free about everything - hugging, jumping up and down - they cheered loud even for the ones that lost! I was amazed. I found myself thinking that if paintball was like that, I might still be playing....but then brushed it quickly out of my mind because it's not and I wanted to focus on today.
My partner and I won a gold medal in our division! It's an actual metal medal and looks pretty cool! You can't see it too well, but it says, " Special Olympics - Skill Courage Sharing Joy" around the outside of the medal and has two people running on it. The other side has the Special Olympics emblem on it. Believe it or not, I'm more proud of this medal than I was on my last paintball trophy, because it was just so much fun! They told my wife and I that we might get to go to the District Special Olympics if we scored high enough...oh yeah, she and her partner won their division as well!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/vikingshadow/personal%20pictures/SpecialOlympicsmedal1.jpg