For 40 years, Special Olympics has been a worldwide leader in providing year-round sport training and competition opportunities to athletes with intellectual disabilities. In 1968, the First International Special Olympics Games were held at Soldier’s Field in Chicago with 1000 athletes from 26 states and Canadacompeting in three sports. Today, Special Olympics has grown to serve over 2.9 million people with intellectual disabilities in over 180 countries, through 30 summer and winter sports.
Since 2000, global program growth has been one of Special Olympics’ primary objectives. In fact, a strategic goal was set by Special Olympics to reach two million athletes worldwide by the end of 2005, a goal which as of 2008 is on the brink of three million athletes. Special Olympics China in particular has demonstrated the most substantial growth of their athlete base, making them at present the largest Special Olympics program in the world. Specifically, while approximately 28,000 athletes participated in Special Olympics Programs across mainland China in 1998, that number rose to over 600,000 in 2006.
In addition to their goal for growth and documenting the quantity of athletes participating in the movement, Special Olympics, Inc. has also been committed to a line of research documenting the quality and impact of Special Olympics athletes’ experiences worldwide. One such study, the U.S. Special Olympics Impact Study (Harada & Siperstein, 2008; Siperstein, Harada, Parker, Hardman, & McGuire, 2005), was the first of its kind to inform Programs about not only their athletes’ experiences in Special Olympics, but also their lives outside of sport. More specifically, the Special Olympics Impact Study provided
U.S. Programs with a wealth of information about athletes, families, and coaches, with specific attention to athletes’ experiences in Special Olympics over time. This information is useful to Programs in that it can be used to ensure that athletes’ interests continue to be met and to improve Programs’ outreach in the community to people with intellectual disabilities of all ages, particularly those who are not currently involved in Special Olympics. One of the most notable findings from the U.S.study was that most athletes with intellectual disabilities participate in Special Olympics through school programs, and that they participate for a significant part of their lives (on average 11 years). Another interesting finding was that Special Olympics athletes share the same motives for participating in and leaving sport as athletes without disabilities.
More recently, the Special Olympics Impact Study was expanded to include
China. Special Olympics China, established in 1985 as a program of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, became part of the Chinese Disabled Persons Federation (CDPF) in 1998, an organization which supervises educational, vocational, and community programs for people with disabilities. There are presently Special Olympics Programs in each of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, with the largest Programs located in Shanghai and Beijing. In addition to offering training and competition opportunities in 27 sports, Special Olympics China also offers Family Support programming, Unified Sports®, Athlete Leadership Program (ALPs), Young Athletes™, Healthy Athletes screening, Motor Activities Training Program (MATP), and Special Olympics Get Into It, and has targeted outreach to students from the kindergarten to university levels. While Special Olympics Programs in Chinahave clearly demonstrated significant growth over the last ten years, there is still very little known about participating athletes.
Conducting the Special Olympics Impact Study in China provided an opportunity to not only replicate and complement the line of research begun in the US, but also to expand the focus. Specifically, the survey in Chinawas further documented in greater detail athletes’ experiences off the field in education, employment, and community involvement. A multi-source approach was employed to answer the following research questions:
What are the characteristics of athletes’ experiences in Special Olympics in China?
What motivates athletes to participate in Special Olympics?
What is the importance of Special Olympics Programs as perceived by families and coaches?
What are the experiences of Special Olympics athletes off the field in education,employment, and community life in China?
"Children with intellectual disabilities are entitled to adequate health care and quality education, and to live in an environment that protects them from abuse, exploitation and disease."
