Special Olympics After Graduation

A few years before my son George graduated from high school, our family discovered a Special Olympics program called FUNdamental Sports. It’s designed for people who have very limited mobility or intellectual and developmental disabilities, like George. He has quadriplegia and can’t move his arms or legs, which makes most sports almost impossible for him to play.

We loved the warm welcome, the creative adaptations, and the plain old fun we found in the program. During our school transition meetings, we started to talk about including FUNdamental Sports as a post-graduation activity.

The only hitch was that there was not a FUNdamental Sports team in our area. George played FUNdamental Sports at the state Special Olympics games a few times a year, but there was no local group to practice with regularly.

I have never coached a sport, but I started to think about starting a FUNdamental Sports team. With some help and encouragement from our former school and Special Olympics Texas, I started a weekly FUNdamental Sports program a few months after George graduated.

The “FUN” in FUNdamental Sports stands for foundational skills, unified partners and no limits. At a practice session, we work on skills like serving a volleyball (a foundational skill) with the help of a parent or caregiver (a unified partner). “No limits” refers to the creative ways we help our athletes experience the joy of sports. 

Imagine George using his head to start a leaf blower that then shoots an inflatable ball over the net, and you’ll start to get how we adapt different activities for our athletes.

There’s a lot of laughter at our weekly practices. Both the athletes and their caregivers have a blast. We follow the Special Olympics seasonal schedule, so we get to sample a variety of sports. We work together to find ways to make every sport accessible to every person.

While practicing sports is the focus of every session, the greatest benefit of FUNdamental Sports is that it brings people together. At least one hour per week, we can get out of the house, make friends and have fun together. 

Avoiding social isolation is a goal in our family’s key transition plan. We are very grateful we found our way to FUNdamental Sports. 

Visit the Special Olympics Texas FUNdamental Sports webpage to learn more.