Special Olympics Motivational Quotes

I told Coach, ‘You know, I realize we’ve been working hard for this, but the medal almost doesn’t matter anymore because I feel like you all have elevated me in such a way that I never could have duplicated that.’ The reinforcement of the journey is so valuable, not just the prize or medal hanging around your neck. And we had such a special time pursuing that together. -- Denna Kastor, 2004 Olympic bronze medalist in the marathon

Special!' Such a pretty word!" Cass Irvin had said. "But what it means is ‘segregated.'" Providing a "special solution for the handicapped" has been the typical response to disability in modern U.S. society  -- to segregate it, separate it, us from them, to make them go away and leave us alone. Special buses. Special Olympics. Very Special Arts. Special education. No matter whether proposed out of genuine if misguided caring or for more selfish motives, it is always very clear, although we don't use the words, that "special" means segregated. Special solutions isolate disabled people from normal society, and nobody pretends they don't. But few seemed to think it should be upsetting to the organized disabled; when they complained they were called selfish. Or unrealistic.