They’re the ones who celebrate with us when we win and motivate us to go on when we give up. There are teachers all around, sparking new ideas within us and inspiring us to realize our full potential. 

Teacher (noun) 

1. One who inspires, guides, enlightens and motivates 

2. A tireless, dedicated professional who transforms the lives of others 

3. One who makes the world a better place 

This Teacher’s Day, we celebrate the efforts of a unique set of teachers who dedicate themselves to making this world a more inclusive place for all! Here are four role models we’re glad to have in our lives:  

Sarah Dalton – The one who teaches us never to give up 

“At horse riding, I legit get back on the horse, but in life in general, I always try to get back on the horse; climb that mountain again.” 

Sarah, an athlete leader with Special Olympics New Zealand, was born with CHARGE Syndrome, a rare condition that affects almost all her senses and organs, Living with CHARGE Syndrome forces Sarah to make an active effort to work on tasks many of us take for granted, including her balance, sitting, seeing, hearing, swallowing, and even breathing. She was once a subject of vicious bullying in school, but the experience has only made her stronger. Over the years, Sarah has amassed many feathers in her hat and emerged as an accomplished athlete and leader. The equestrian athlete has several accolades for the sport under her belt. The achievement she’s most proud of is the trophy she won at Bartley’s Riding Academy, where she competed against able-bodied people and came out on top. One of the most cheerful and confident people we’ve encountered, Sarah is living proof that happiness is a choice! 

Today, we thank Sarah for teaching us that no one is defined by their disability and that we can all achieve our dreams if we put our minds to it! 

Ben Haack – The one who teaches us that we can all make a difference 

“If we all stop being judgmental, if we slow down and provide everyone with an inclusive environment to show what they can do, the results can be amazing.” 

Ben, an athlete leader with Special Olympics Australia, also serves on the global board of directors for Special Olympics International.   

He has Asperger’s Syndrome and understands that people with intellectual disabilities (ID) often do not get equal access to quality education, employment and health care. He has been speaking all over the world, to amplify the message of treating people with respect and dignity, giving them opportunity and choice. 

Ben believes that our voices are the most powerful tool in changing the world and that we can all be advocates for inclusion. He teaches us that every single one of us has the power to make a real difference in the world! 

Kevan Lee – The one who teaches us that humility is the best teacher  

“Volunteering isn’t about ‘us’ helping or teaching ‘them’. It’s about mutual learning, respect, and making friends. They aren’t ‘beneficiaries’, they’re our buddies and athletes we learn and play with.” 

Kevan, a volunteer coach with Special Olympics Singapore, is involved with both the badminton outreach program for athletes with ID as well as the Young Athletes program for younger children with and without ID. He is a teacher at Saint Anthony’s Canossian Secondary School and has inspired his own students to become volunteers. Together, they have learnt important life lessons from the athletes of Special Olympics, including values of strength, resilience, and grit. 

Travelling to Abu Dhabi with the Singapore Team for the Special Olympics World Summer Games opened Kevan’s eyes to the possibility of sports creating a truly empowered and inclusive world, and he works tirelessly each day to make that happen. In Kevan’s own words, “I hope for our young people, with and without disabilities, to experience life together so that we can create a truly inclusive society with equal opportunities for all!” 

Simran Sahni – The one who teaches us that we can achieve anything we set our minds to 

“I will not stop working for the cause until I see people with intellectual disabilities working in different professional fields and being self-sufficient. I’m committed to transform this society into not just an integrated one, but an inclusive one.” 

Simran is a youth leader who organized Special Olympics Bharat’s first National Youth Summit. She believes in the power of young people to build an inclusive society that is free from all social injustice. As a leading advocate for Unified Leadership, Simran has learnt and taught many invaluable lessons. One of her greatest learnings was taught to her by Shrey Kadian, an athlete with ID, and that was the value of hard work and perseverance. They have helped each other through highs and lows, and she’s even overcome her fear of public speaking, thanks to Shrey’s support.  

At the beginning of her time with Special Olympics Bharat, Simran used to get severe stage fright. But with practice, she gained confidence. Today, she is an accomplished and inspirational speaker! 

Thank you Simran, for being the teacher we needed, for leading by example and giving us the courage to overcome our fears! 

This Teacher’s Day, we thank all our unexpected and extraordinary teachers for the lessons they leave us with, for helping us be better individuals and enriching our lives with knowledge and meaning, but mostly for the realization that there is a teacher within each one of us. We all have something invaluable to offer and we too can become teachers in our own ways! 

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Nothing has changed for them. If anything, it has gotten worse. Self-quarantine has become the only solution to limit the spread of the coronavirus. If this time feels difficult for you, imagine how challenging it is for people who’ve had minimum human interaction and limited opportunities, to begin with.

Here’s a glimpse of what a normal life of a person with an intellectual disability looks like:

Growing up, Florence faced a lot of bullying at school. Not only was she bullied verbally, once a classmate, whom she thought was her friend, threw her bag in the drain which left her heartbroken and scared. This is not how most of us remember our childhood, but this childhood memory is Florence’s normal. 

Shrey did not speak until he was 7. “People called me pagal (lunatic in Hindi).” Some acquaintances told his mum to place him in a hospital for people with mental disorders. There were times when even his father questioned why his mother was doing so much for him. He felt all the more isolated when his relatives stopped inviting their family for parties and gatherings.

Ben was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome at the age of 17. Once, he was brutally attacked by a gang of students who ended up breaking his nose. In the car on the way to the hospital, Ben remembers telling his mum, “The kids are right, I’m nothing but a piece of shit. And I deserve everything.” To which she responded, “Nobody on this earth deserves the treatment you have received. But we will fix it from now on.”

Over the last few months you have learnt what it feels like to be isolated & helpless; you now know how so many people with intellectual disabilities have always felt. This is not a call for help, it is an appeal. By spreading the word about #MyNormal and coming forward to donate whatever you can, you will help change the lives of thousands who really need your support.

Help change #MyNormal

If you’re in Singapore, donate here

If you’re living outside of Singapore, donate here

The post Your life has changed during COVID19, not ours. appeared first on Human RACE.

So, let’s put this into context.  People with disabilities are as a group, more susceptible to this pandemic than anyone else, and have at times been perceived to have very limited capacity to deal with all this confusion, restrictions, and fear. 

I know from my own experiences as a person with Asperger’s syndrome, and having been involved with people with disabilities, how much they struggle to deal with change, how little changes can make a massive difference and cause problems. I also know how susceptible they are to a lack of empathy, justice, quality health care, and the services we all take for granted. 

I saw a photo recently of three young people on the autism spectrum who each held a sign that in combination said: “The whole world is overwhelmed by a sudden change of routine, it’s not that easy huh?” To me, this sums up this whole situation really.  People with intellectual disabilities have always dealt with a scary and overwhelming world.

But through this dark and challenging time, the athletes of Special Olympics, who have as much of a right as any other group to go down the usual route of fear, doubt, indifference and worry that seem to be permeating through the big players in the world, have decided to go down a different route. A route of community and belonging, of empathy and decency, and of grounded localised leadership.

Here are a few examples of what I’m talking about.

There is a young lady in Great Britain named Kiera Byland, who every week, does an online fitness class for people to actively engage in from home. I saw a group of Special Olympics athletes sending thank you messages to healthcare workers. 

I have seen athletes from all over the world sending messages of hope, saying that we all need to stay socially connected, for us to all wash our hands, to eat healthy, and to be thankful for what we have. 

Haseeb Abbasi, an athlete from Pakistan, has been sharing creative ways to exercise indoors, including creating his own stationary bike using ropes. There are athletes who have partnered up with the WWE to do a series of online fitness videos called “School of Strength”, to inspire and empower the wider community to still stay fit while being isolated in their own homes. There are athletes from all parts of the world, who through the power of technology, are staying connected, active, healthy and optimistic.

Basically, this cohort of people, through the power of inclusion, health, education, and sport, have decided to rise up and spread a very different message from what is being put out there.

It is a message of solidarity and positivity, a message of belonging, and also of control and leadership. These leaders have decided to go out there and give their cohort and the world, some optimism and hope with concrete action, activities and tools to combat this pandemic and to give the world a sense of control over the situation.  It is amazing that this is coming from people with intellectual disabilities, who are supposed to be the most vulnerable, weak and stigmatized population in our society. Not once in human history has this group ever been perceived as leaders, as people who can inspire and take control.

Special Olympics is the driving force behind this. Special Olympics is fundamentally an organisation that uses sports to empower people with and without disabilities to become advocates for inclusion.  

My name is Ben Haack, I live on the Gold Coast in, well, I guess for the moment a very different Australia. I’m a Special Olympics athlete leader and I serve on the global board of directors. 

My advice is simple: for every single one of us to take on these positive examples and do what we can each day to make our communities better and to remind ourselves of what really matters.  Let’s use this time to get back on track to the things that matter. That is the message and power of the athletes of Special Olympics. Through sport, we can all make a real difference in the world.

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I was diagnosed quite late in life, at the age of 17, with Asperger Syndrome.

The first 16 years of my life, before I got diagnosed, were very hard. Back then, I was nothing, according to society. Mainstream education and sport struggled with people like me. I was in the world’s “too hard” basket.

I live with my parents on a 14-acre farm in Gilston, in the hinterland area of Gold Coast, Australia. It is a quiet place, which I like. Most people with Asperger’s do. It’s simply because for us, interacting with people can sometimes be challenging. I used to have difficulties picking up on jokes and on emotion.

I also had  Hypersensitivity, which meant that I heard things a lot louder, and smelt things a lot more than other people did. When I was stressed, that became heightened.

As a child, I was a chronic stutterer. When my parents first had me assessed, I was behind in all gross and fine motor activities. I went through a lot of occupational therapy. I also walked on tip toes and at one stage, the doctors were going to cut both of my Achilles to bring my feet back down. We had a very short six-month window and a lot of concentrated exercise to improve my condition. Had I gone for the surgery, I wouldn’t have been able to play football or cricket today.

Throughout my schooling years, I faced a lot of bad treatment and bullying. It was a very confusing, frightening and difficult time. I didn’t know how to behave. I didn’t understand jokes or body language or get what was going on.

I got peed on when I was in primary school. I got bashed up quite a few times in toilets. I got food thrown at me. I had a teacher who made me sit in a corner for an entire year at school. I was burnt, stabbed, and abused more times than I can ever truly recall. Most days I came home either with missing gear or an injury that I hid from my family.

In high school, I was brutally attacked by a gang of students and my nose was broken. In the car on the way to the hospital, I remember telling my mum, “The kids are right, I’m nothing but a piece of shit. And I deserve everything.” She told me, “Nobody on this earth deserves the treatment you have received. But we will fix it from now on.”

That was the turning point. My school decided to bring someone in who worked with people with disabilities. She observed me in the classroom and made some recommendations. I went to see a doctor and that’s when I got diagnosed with Asperger’s.

I was shocked for a while because it’s a difficult thing to comprehend, that all of sudden I now have a disability. For a while I felt isolated as I struggled to grasp it.

My mum was desperate to find a place I could belong. My parents put me into a lot of sport because they’re both sporty people. In the beginning, I tried rugby, which turned out to be a bad idea. Because of my size, the coaches put me in the front row not knowing that I have autism and that I didn’t like close contact. I didn’t cope well, so most of the time, I was relegated to the bench.

My mum called different places trying to find activities for me to get involved in. We eventually found out about Special Olympics.

I started playing football and was hooked. My ball skills improved together with my confidence. It was the first time I felt respected. Soon I was representing Australia at the Special Olympics World Games. That was life-changing for me.

It felt good to play sport and not sit on the sidelines. Sport improved my social skills and my ability to make friends. It created a place for me to belong.

I also started to realize that my voice was the most powerful tool in making a difference. I worked hard to perfect it and to amplify the message of treating people with respect and dignity, giving them opportunity and choice. The point I wanted to make was for the world to see us for our abilities, not disabilities.

I have won medals at the 2003 Special Olympics World Games in Ireland, and 2007 World Games in Shanghai, among others. My medals represent some really special moments and magical achievements.

In 2010, I was honored with an invitation to the Fifa World Cup in South Africa. Special Olympics organized an exhibition football match, the Unity Cup. I was the athlete leader chosen to sit alongside political leaders and be the voice of people with intellectual disabilities. It was huge, and it felt unbelievable to be there to speak about the movement at such an important press conference.

I found the confidence to get a job. I now work at the Gold Coast Recreation, where I look after clients with disabilities to ensure that they are safe and actively involved in sports programs.

I see a lot of people with intellectual disabilities who get treated as badly as I was. I have three friends from school. All of them have been to prison, all have intellectual disabilities, and similar stories. I talk to children with disabilities, younger than the age of ten, who went through similar experiences as I did. When I see things like that continuing to happen, it frustrates me. It reminds me of why a lot more must be done – in building awareness and changing mindsets.

Our society still works in a way where people believe that those with disabilities offer very little value and that we must prepare the family and the community for the worst. It is a common mindset that people like me are full of defects, and we need extra resources and attention in order to get anything out of us. 

If we all stop being judgmental, if we slow down and give people with disabilities an inclusive platform and an opportunity to show what they can do, the results can be amazing.

Allow me to share another personal story. I started playing cricket at around 13, and it was a real struggle. I couldn’t bat despite my dad’s best efforts to teach me.  But I became obsessed with the sport and practised all the time. I grew to love it.  By the time I was 17, I was playing against some professional cricketers and I have continued to do so for over 20 years. Special Olympics has helped me do this.

The lesson I learnt was to work hard and love what you do. What I hope to see happen in the future is that these lessons happen in a more supportive environment.

The challenge now is this: how do we shine a light on people with intellectual disabilities in a truly authentic way? How do we convince the world to value the seemingly valueless?  How do we take it a step further, and get society to embrace the idea of people with disabilities as leaders?

Changing societal mindsets is something we have to keep chipping at.  To borrow the words of Albert Einstein, “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

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