I offer my highest regards to the leaders of the webinar I attended: they genuinely seemed to want to hear all of the many possible ideas for how to deal with space issues. However, at the end, even after we had listen many feasible ideas to deal with the space issue, the leaders still said that an advancement/allotment system was inevitable. I asked to see if they would keep all events with this system, like the assisted and unassisted swim, but I already knew the answer. Any events in which Robb can compete would be dissolved making it virtually impossible for Robb to ever compete in the Olympics Games.
Keep in mind that in Special Olympics' mission statement, it says that the goal of Special Olympics is to have "competition opportunities for all levels of ability." An advancement/allotment system falsifies this claim which is the core value that makes Special Olympics so amazing. Before, Robb could race competitively at his level of swimming. But with this new system, my brother again gets placed against expectations that diminish the value of all of his growth and skill development over the season. His goals may be different from those of his teammates, but this does not mean that they should not be recognized especially by the organization whose purpose is to give people with all levels of ability equal opportunity.
Their reasoning for the necessity of the new system was that almost all the other states had done it, and that might have been the most painful part. There had already been many people before my brother in the same situation whose voice has been silenced.
I am not going to let my brother get oppressed in a community that is designed to give him opportunities that everyone else has. We will find out the decisions of the Special Olympics committee with regards to their advancement/allotments plans in November, but until then, spread the word. To truly be an event for people with "all levels of ability," the Special Olympics needs to include everyone in the diverse spectrum of intellectual disabilities.
