Glee Actress Has New Role as Ambassador

Los Angeles Local News | FOX 11 LA KTTV

by Ramona Schindelheim and Araksya Karapetyan from My Fox LA:

You know her as William McKinley High’s loud-mouth “Cherrio” Becky Johnson on the FOX television show “Glee”. Now, 24-year-old Lauren Potter has a new role, one she is extremely proud of – Special Ambassador to the 2015 Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles. Lauren, who has Down Syndrome, has been involved with the Special Olympics since high school, taking part in volleyball and baseball. She says that being one of the faces of the games is more than just a job, it’s a mission to give people with disabilities a voice. “I’m so proud of myself and these athletes”, says Lauren. Her mother, Robin, tells us that “Glee” also has given a platform to people with disabilities. Lauren says her role helps her make a difference to other people with Down Syndrome. They both agree that the Special Olympics helps give “power to the athletes, giving them a chance to be champions and to be stars for that moment”.

United States Department of Education Guidance Calls for Leveling the Playing Field for Students with Disabilities

from Special Olympics:

US Department of Education Guidance

On 1/25/13, the United States Department of Education (DOE) released new guidance to schools and school systems throughout the nation that receive federal aid about the requirements of providing quality sports opportunities for students with disabilities.
While the guidance does not make new law, it does identify the responsibilities that schools and school systems have under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The key messages in the new guidance could be summarized as the following:
  • Every school child with a disability must be  evaluated as an individual relative to their sports and physical activity participation. No generalizations about the ability of a child or children who have disabilities in the same category are permissible. 
    • Reasonable accommodations for children with disabilities to participate in sports activities are required; the basic nature of a sport does not need to be compromised under this guidance, but where reasonable accommodations do not alter the nature of the sport, they should be made. 
    • School districts and schools must provide aids and services to enable students with disabilities to participate if the lack of such aids and services would not permit participation.
    •Exclusion of students from sports activities is not permissible.  Therefore, if children with disabilities cannot be accommodated within existing programs, alternatives need to be developed. 

    • Acknowledging that there are safety issues involved in youth sports, schools need to determine if adjustments in existing programs can be reasonably accomplished without creating real safety issues for other students that cannot be mitigated.  This would be a rationale for creating separate sporting opportunities for youth with disabilities in such instances. 

Gymnast with Down syndrome carries Olympic Torch

by Daniel Mckenzie, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News:
A world-beating disabled athlete from Widnes became the first Halton resident to carry the Olympic Flame in the London 2012 Torch Relay on Sunday.
Down’s Syndrome gymnast Omar Haddad, 23, of Downside, struck gold in the floor, rings, parallel bars, horizontal bar and all-round disciplines, in the Special Olympics in Athens earlier this year.
He was one of 10 Special Olympics athletes selected to carry the flame in Haverfordwest, South Wales.
He was nominated as a torchbearer through Coca-Cola’s Future Flames campaign.

Omar said: “My whole family was there cheering, everyone was cheering. It was fantastic.”
Omar travels twice a week to the Cheshire Academy Of Integrated Sport And Arts in Crewe to receive coaching and is partially funded by Halton Council’s sports development department, which has provided him with a small grant to help with his training and transport costs.
He enjoys a number of sports outside gymnastics, including kick-boxing, trampolining and swimming. In his spare time he does voluntary work at a garden centre doing woodwork, catering and gardening.
Karen Wallin, of Special Olympics Great Britain, said: “It’s great that our Special Olympics GB athletes were able to join the excitement this summer and carry the Olympic Flame.
“The athletes had a fantastic reaction while on the run which made the day really memorable for them.”

PSA on the R-word donated to Best Buddies and Special Olympics

from the Huffington Post by Ayo Adeyeye:
I remember having a conversation with my elder sister, as a child, and mentioning something concerning "handicapped people." My sister, who has long had a passion for and works daily with people with disabilities immediately corrected me to say "people with handicap," explaining that "people come first, not their disability." I certainly didn't intend any offense with my syntax, but I've since used the appropriate people-first language, quite simply, because I know better. It is in that spirit that several members of the Shriver family, celebrities, and shoppers came together at a boutique in Santa Monica, CA last month to support those with disabilities and to fight prejudice.

Our friends at Project360, the apparel company founded by Patrick Schwarzenegger, Nick Sheinberg, and Kimberly Barth, hosted the event. Project360 uses fashion as a vehicle to generate social awareness for important global causes, one of which is Best Buddies International. Founded in 1989 by Anthony Shriver, the organization promotes leadership, employment, and social opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

Hundreds gathered at Fred Segal Couture and Madison in Santa Monica to shop, eat, and indulge in various offerings from the event sponsors, all in the name of charity. Ticket proceeds were donated to Team Maria Best Buddies, a fundraising team started in 2009 by Maria Shriver, Anthony Shriver's sister, which has since raised $600,000 for the organization.

Project360 raised more than $10,000 for Best Buddies that evening, all of which will be donated to the organization. One of the most salient features of the event was a campaign to "End the R-word," the offensive term meant to disparage people with IDD, for which attendees contributed to a Public Service Announcement (PSA) produced by Project360.

Lauren Potter, an actress on the hit television series Glee, who has Down syndrome and is a board member of Best Buddies, co-hosted the event with Nancy O'Dell of Entertainment Tonight. O'Dell has been a board member of Best Buddies for more than 10 years and is intimately familiar with the organization's cause. Growing up with an aunt with Down syndrome, she witnessed the isolation felt by people with IDD due to prejudice, and the resulting cost to society, explaining that "the rest of the world misses out when they don't recognize the contribution that people with intellectual disabilities can make to our community."

Anthony Shriver founded Best Buddies to give people with IDD the opportunity to be socially integrated. The organization accomplishes this by partnering with schools, from middle schools through universities, and pairing people with IDD, known as "buddies," with their non-disabled peers to foster one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, and leadership development opportunities. Shriver founded the organization because he recognizes the value of teaching young people that everyone has a gift to contribute to society. He adds, "And I thought pairing people with IDD with young people who are at that same stage of their life, aspiring to great things - to develop a career, raise a family - sharing that bond together, would be something magical and special." Shriver, whose mother founded the Special Olympics, the athletic organization for people with IDD, explained that his parents instilled the values of service and community involvement early on in their family by engaging their children. He remembers, "The dialogue between them on the tasks that were put before them in building the Peace Corps and the Special Olympics always made them seem alive and stimulated... it's energizing and it makes you want to have that same kind of experience."

In addition to the funds raised by Project360, Fred Segal Couture and Madison agreed to donate 10% of the day's sales to Best Buddies. The PSA discouraging use of the R-word will be donated to Best Buddies and the Special Olympics, allowing the organizations to continue promoting the message of people first.