Special Olympics: Computer Programmer Competes ! !

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I thought you had to have an intellectual handicap to be in Special Olympics. At an autism social, I recently met a woman who presents as mentally handicapped (speech, mannerisms, overall being). She mentioned she does Special Olympics level 2 gymnastics, but you'd never know by her appearance that she does ANY sport for that matter (very flabby, plus overweight, slow moving). She talked about her medals. Her conversational abilities were simple (and I understand this can come with the most intelligent, high-IQ'd of autistics).

But I took her to have an intellectual disability WITH autism. I was outright stunned when at the next event she said she was a computer programmer and website designer for a major aeronautics company. She wasn't joking.

My question is this: Why is she in Special Olympics? There is NO way she has an intellectual impairment if she's a computer programmer and site designer (she has a degree in computer science).

Apparently, I myself qualify for SPOL, simply because I'm autistic. But I'd feel like a cheater if I won any medals, competing against those with low IQs and Down syndrome.

Though this woman seems to be clumsy and is only in level 2 competition (I viewed this on Ytube and it's very rudimentary, very), I fail to see how she, with her high intellect, could feel a sense of accomplishment winning SPOL medals!

Being that I don't have a gymnastics or dance background, I'd qualify for level 2 (level 1, at least at bigger meets, is pretty competitive, and I even witnessed it at the international level in person --- amazing ! !!).

But even though I could only qualify for level 2, I'd STILL feel fraudulent, even if some very flexible woman with Down syndrome scored higher than me.

If the computer programmer is naturally klutzy, perhaps with dyspraxia, and overweight, but wants to compete in sports, you might be thinking that SPOL is ideal for her. But there are mainstream sports (against people of at least normal intelligence) she can learn to compete in that don't require great agility (and besides, even level TWO gymnastics involves SOME degree of balance and agility, though rudimentary).

So if she could win medals at level 2, why not further boost her ego by competing in mainstream powerlifting, mainstream bowling league or mainstream softball?

I just don't get why high-functioning autistic people WITHOUT intellectual impairment compete in SPOL. It's almost like taking candy from a child. I'd never do it, even if I was the worst competitor at an event.

I worked with a woman who competed in the Special Olympics. She didn't have an intellectual impairment (or, if so, it was only mild) but she was very obviously autistic.

I don't think having a higher IQ inherently would be an advantage, and if she curbstomps locally doesn't that just mean she's eligible to compete with others who did well at a higher (regional, state/provincial, etc) level?

It would hardly be taking candy from a baby if there's many HFA people there. I think that's kinda insulting to the other competitors, especially when some of the higher category competitors almost certainly don't have as high of IQ as her.

It could be my loyalty to rules, that I think it's wrong for someone of normal and especially high intellect to compete in a venue that was originally designated for people with mental retardation (if you read the history of SPOL, that's what it states). Over time, "mental retardation" was replaced with "developmental disabilities," and autism is considered a DD, or at least, WAS IN THE PAST, as it is now called a "neurodevelopmental disability." I think the terminology got people mixed up, and now, those with ONLY an autism diagnosis are often in SPOL.

I can somewhat see the logic behind this if the autism is severe as far as behavior and communication.

I'm not saying that the computer programmer probably doesn't have some serious issues due to her autism. But if she's able to hold down that kind of job, which involves interfacing with NT engineers and other big guns, she must be doing fairly decent. Yes, maybe at home she can't remember to take a shower, brush her teeth and uses her closet wall to bang her head. And maybe she can't keep track of bills. I get all that. BUT, at the end of the day, she's able to maintain that high-level job around other people. This just seems "too high functioning" for SPOL, even if there are intellectually disabled competitors who can back-flip circles around her.

This makes me think of biological males competing against females because they identify as women. One of the defenses is that in many cases, the trans-man finishes at the bottom of the heap; gets routinely beaten by bio-women. But does that mean it's okay or ethical for bio men to compete against bio women? As a conservative, I don't believe so.

Likewise, I'm fully aware that I can get my ass whupped by women with mental retardation in any track running event (division 1 or level 1). They can out-swim me. They can out-bowl and out-golf me. But I STILL would not feel right competing against them, even if it was in a lower division or level. Plus, I would never feel a sense of achievement if I won a SPOL medal, even if I had to struggle my pants off to win the bronze (i.e., train hard some gymnastics routine, as I am not a natural gymnast or dancer). Imagine Elon Musk (who has diagnosed autism) competing in SPOL. Doesn't seem right, does it?

I guess it only seems right if the person is "obviously autistic," no matter how self-sufficient in adulting they are and maintaining a brainy job?

Advantage of a higher intellect: A higher intellect, by and large, is a significant advantage in athletic training. This is why it's unheard of for someone with an intellectual disability to be on a mainstream professional sports team or play professionally in a solitary sport, as well as be on any national team for the regular Olympics.

Though many intellectual impairments come with a genetic disorder that also causes impairments in physical function (e.g., some may come with heart defects, other organ defects, low muscle tone, metabolic dysfunction), there are many other people with ID who have perfectly healthy and able bodies (the low IQ is the result of brain injury incurred during birth or in early childhood in which only cognitive function was affected, sparing harm to the physical body).

So why, then, don't we see people with MILD mental retardation making professional sports teams or the regular Olympics?

Now, I guess it's possible that there may have been an ID athlete, finishing in the bottom of the heap, for a more obscure country that had maybe only eight delegates for an Olympics, and the best of their best in any sport could still be beaten by a top high school athlete in the U.S. I realize that possibility.

But the bottom line is that we don't see people with mild MR in professional sports for a reason: The lower IQ impairs the ability to train -- any pro athlete will tell you that excellence is at least half, if not 90 percent, "mental."

However, people with mild MR are capable of excelling at the high school level. I did once catch a news story of a man (I believe from a South American country) with MR who was running a sub-four minute mile...but he was in SPOL, not his country's regular national running team.

Running, though, requires a LOT LESS cognitive and executive function and tactics than does team sports or solitary sports such as tennis, springboard diving, skiing, the high jump, long jump, etc.

Though MR people DO participate in mainstream marathons and triathlons .... they don't place. Or at least, if this has happened on an extremely occasional basis, I haven't heard about it.

My point is that ID, even in a genetically normal body, interferes with reaching a level of skill that is attained in athletes with normal intelligence.

No, I don't have a hangup. It's just one of those things that I have pinpointed as a very interesting phenomenon. I tend to hyperfixate on things that most people don't even think about. Likewise, there are other autistics who hyperfixate on things that I have no interest in or opinion on.

But let's face it: Elon Musk, Darryl Hannah, Dan Akroyd, Anthony Hopkins (all dx'd with autism) competing in SPOL would raise a lot of eyebrows, and they'd get a lot of flak for it. Plus, what if the pro athletes who are autistic decided one day to compete in SPOL? That would be .... just not right. And yes, there are pro athletes with autism, plus solitary elite athletes with autism who have competed in mainstream.

I am a Special Olympics athlete. I do not have an intellectual disability. Special Olympics is open to athletes with intellectual disabilities, with developmental disabilities, like Autism, or to athletes who have both. I am eligible because I have a developmental disability, Autism. And there are no functioning restrictions at SO. So those of you judge us saying that we are too high functioning to be in SO, maybe you should actually do your research and learn how SO works.

Before you rant that it's not fair for someone like me to compete in SO, I say again, you should probably do your research to understand how SO competition works. If you think it's unfair, it's because you are ignorant and you don't know how SO competitions are done. And there are plenty of people who have intellectual disabilities at SO who can beat the tar out me any day of the week in most of the sports. I can't even keep up with a lot of them. So you need to do your research before you make decisions and criticize something that you don't know anything about.

Yeah, it actually really pisses me off that people can say what they say when they have no understanding of the organization at all.

At a meeting of autistic adults I attended, this subject came up. And then, the Special Olympics website left me confused as to the eligibility for autistic athletes. I asked them to fix their website. I just looked now to see what they came up with and although it is still vague, this is the eligibility:
From BECOME AN ATHLETE

Anyone who is Autistic is eligible for Special Olympics PERIOD!! Yes, it is called in ID on the website and yes, this issue has been addressed. But in order to officially change anything on the website the amount of red tape that has to be gotten through is astronomical because of branding and all kinds of other legal stuff. So that is why it still says that. If you have an ID, or a DD, or both, you are eligible. That is the bottom line. It doesn't matter how high or how low functioning you are. It doesn't matter if you are a rocket engineer at NASA, if you have an ID or a DD or both, you are eligible.

And competition is very fair. You only compete against people who are comparable to you in ability. It doesn't matter how good you are at your sport. There is no ceiling for proficiency in sport. I know of some SO athletes in speed skating, Soccer, and swimming who are so good that they are very close to actually close to actual Olympic level.

Hey Skibum,

Of course I forgive you! Your follow-up is appreciated.

I'm curious who the people are who keep giving you a hard time about your SPOL participation. Maybe don't tell them about your upcoming events? Or maybe they see the medals and then start asking? Don't tolerate the bullying.

Even though I'm still trying to understand all of this, one thing is for sure: Bullying should never be tolerated.