Dignity, acceptance, and a chance to reach one’s potential – these are human rights worth promoting for everyone. Since 1968, Special Olympics has been bringing one message to the world: people with intellectual disabilities can and will succeed if given the opportunity.

Through year-round sports training and competition, Special Olympics empowers individuals with intellectual disabilities in more than 180 countries. Special Olympics often is the only place where they have an opportunity to participate in their communities and develop belief in themselves. Many live lives of neglect and isolation, hidden away or socially excluded from full participation in schools or society. Transforming the athlete, Special Olympics sports are a gateway to empowerment, competence, acceptance and joy.

But we also transform their communities. When people see Special Olympics athletes in action, they see their humanity, their joy in competition, their pride and their potential, and they begin to believe in a different kind of world – a world in which everyone is respected and included.

Special Olympics is a global nonprofit organization serving the nearly 200 million people with intellectual disabilities, with a presence in nearly 200 countries worldwide. With seven regional offices, we are constantly expanding to add new Programs in every part of the world – which is why we can say with all truth that “the sun never sets on the Special Olympics movement.”

For more on Special Olympics, go to www.specialolympics.org.

For more information on Bullard's Special Education Department click here.