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Hundreds of students participate in a unique program in the Puget Sound area called Unified Sports. Basketball teams are made up an equal number of athletes with developmental delays and partners without disabilities. (Photo by Ron Wang)

Requiring high school teams to allow disabled athletes to play

March 3, 2013 @ 2:38 pm (Updated: 10:35 am - 3/4/13 )

Rainer Beach and Curtis for the boys, Cleveland and Mead for the girls. All were champions in the high school basketball tournament played over the weekend at the Tacoma Dome.

How different would these tournament games be if developmentally disabled students were given a chance to play?

She shoots. She scores at a basketball tournament in Issaquah.

"It just makes me feel happy," says a student athlete. "Woo, I score, yeah, fun!"

Heyiwot, whose name means life, is a special needs high school student playing basketball with peers who have no developmental disabilities.

Hundreds of students participate in a unique program in the Puget Sound area, sponsored by Special Olympics, called Unified Sports.

Teams are made up of an equal number of athletes with intellectual disabilities and partners without developmental delays.

"Some of these partners are actual JV and Varsity athletes. We couldn't be more proud of them because they get it. They have a higher sense of sportsmanship, we think, because they're willing to share with the special ed kids and it's just magic," says Ron Wang.

His son is a sophomore with autism.

"The kind of barriers that labels may create just dissolve away and make it a nice picture of working together and trying to get along," Wang says. "For a life skill, a life lesson, that's pretty important."

Coach Lorie Buob, who's a high school special education teacher in Seattle, says she's seen her students grow by leaps and bounds socially because of being able to play competitively with regular kids.

"The kids are so enthusiastic," Buob says. "They're excited to be there, excited to play basketball. The games are such a big deal for them because they feel like they're a part of the school and they're on a sports team."

Parent Dagmar Obert says it's been good for her family.

"It's a way for myself as a parent to involve my children with typical peers without the anxiety of academics, while allowing a real blend of personalities and fun," says Obert. "I think by taking out the stress of performing with pencil and paper it's a unique way to build bonds between the special ed and typical peers."

With fist pumps and high fives, the special needs kids feel connected to the "outside world" and equal to their school peers as they walk the hallways.

The program is more than just a nice thing to do for some kids. It will soon be a requirement.

The U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan says students with disabilities have the right to participate in their schools' extracurricular activities, and that many school districts are failing to give students with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in athletics.

Earlier this year, the Department's Office for Civil Rights issued guidance clarifying school districts' legal obligations to provide equal access to extracurricular athletic activities to students with disabilities.

The letter cites an example of a violation. The coach decides - based on his understanding of the student's learning disability - he or she would be unable to play successfully under the time constraints and pressures of an actual game. Based on this assumption, the coach decides never to play this student during games. In his opinion, participating fully in all the team practice sessions is good enough.

That coach is violating the intent of the law, according to the Education Department.

Not all special ed students will want to play on school sports teams, but if they have the ability and the desire they must be given a chance.

"I think everybody should get a chance to play," says Evan Porcincula who is a partner playing on the Unified basketball team, has played Unified soccer and is captain of his high school tennis team. "Not everyone gets a chance to play at the Tacoma Dome, but this gives them another opportunity get out there, have fun and enjoy sports."

By LINDA THOMAS

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (12)


  • Add A Comment

  • ron prevost wrote...
    Run, Forrest, Run.
    March 4, 2013 4:45 am
    What sense did it EVER make to restrict 'developmentally disabled' students with ATHLETIC abilities from school sports? ..... Other than that perhaps some jocks or jockettes just didn't want to associate with them?

    If the kids can run, let them run. If they can cooperate in team sports, LET THEM PLASY. ......... Who knows, there might be a future MLB home run king od an Olympics soccer goalie out there who only needs the chance to compete.

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  • ron prevost wrote...
    Heck, you let guys like me who can't do a post without a couple of typos
    March 4, 2013 4:57 am
    participate in MYNW comments.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • BikeNazi wrote...
    Winning a gold medal in the Special Olympics is nice
    March 4, 2013 5:40 am
    But that doesn't make you any less retarded.
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    And what did YOU do with your Special Olympics medal?
    March 4, 2013 6:47 am
    I guess Cyclists are arrogant about everything. ...

    And no one is talking here about 'special' competition, Nazi. Its about REAL athletes who just might be as smart as you think YOU are.

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  • Daddy Dennis wrote...
    The Example
    March 4, 2013 9:56 am
    Telling a coach they must put a player into harm's way that is not capable of recognizing danger is simply asking our coaches to encourage injuries. The example they used is them saying increased danger of injury for sports participants is the intent of the law. If this is the intent of the law, the intent must be changed right away.

    I support 100% the idea that athletics unites us. It brings us together in beautiful ways. But demanding that coaches put players in play that do not firmly grasp the need for safety is wrong.

    They even use a pressure situation as their example. It is under these situations that the risk of injury is at the very highest. This is well-intentioned but horribly flawed.

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  • jhosford4 wrote...
    they already do
    March 4, 2013 9:58 am
    Tital says "Requiring high school teams to ALLOW disabled athletes to play". They already are allowed, most of them just can't make the team. No-one is saying they can't go to tryouts. It's not like they are being discriminated against. They probably just won't make the cut. What your talking about it requiring them to make the team, which just seems patronizing and insulting to me. Nor does it accually prepare them for life in the real world. If you don't have the skill you don't make the team, and that also applies to the non-chalanged people who try out and just arn't good enough.....good grief....
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  • iceworker08 wrote...
    Agreed
    March 6, 2013 8:58 am
    And it takes away a spot on the team that would go to someone that could be an effective member. Just more PC shoved down the throats of people who want to have a normal life.
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  • mnpat wrote...
    To answer you question this mo0rning about why we have athletic programs......
    March 4, 2013 10:21 am
    National surveys show, for example, that student-athletes have healthier eating habits, higher parental support and lower levels of anxiety and depression than other students. Participation in sports is also associated with higher levels of self-esteem and motivation, feelings of well-being and, for young women, a better body image. There are other benefits as well. Your question can also be asked about why schools have music programs, drama programs, clubs and intramural activities, it is all to easy isolate and condemn. As a student athlete in college and high school I had numerous occasions where those not as furtunate but fully capable of competeing however reaching that capable stage is not for everyone. The attitude of fairness that permeates certain mindsets is fantasy land thinking. this is not kid soccer where soccer moms believe everyone wins. There are budget constraints, revenue producing sports need to produce revenue or coaches are fired. Title IX is 40 years old this year and they have still been unable to succeed by finishing with a athletic program into the black. This failure more than anything else contributes to programs being eliminated regardless or fairness.
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  • taxslave wrote...
    I can't believe we are even talking about this...
    March 4, 2013 11:30 am
    Don't get me wrong, if a child with special needs is one of the top 12 players in their high school in basketball, then by all means he/she should be on the varsity squad. But let's be real. We all have known people with disadvantages of this type and they aren't in the top 12 very often. That is exactly why we have special olympics and programs similar. I will never be in the NBA because I am too fat, should they have a rule requiring the owners to sign me to contracts. Give me a break.
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    taxslave, I don't think anyone is requiring special needs kids to START.
    March 4, 2013 11:54 am
    When I was in high school, pretty much anyone who could provide their own uniform could practice for the sports teams. That's why they had JV squads

    Don't recall any of the 'slower' kids starting baseball, basketball or football, but there was one who was a pretty good miler and even ran in the all state meet.

    In other sports? I suspect boxers Mike Tyson and Leon Spinks both were (are) considered mentally challenged, but they both did become world champions.

    In short, if they have ability (and can grasp the concept), why prevent anyone from participating. The worse that can happen is a larger crowd watching the games from the sidelines instead of the stands.

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  • mnpat wrote...
    Ms. Thomas or Mr. Ross
    March 4, 2013 11:50 am
    Should they allow boys to participate on the girls volleyball team because there is no boys volleyball team, or maybe on the girls softball team? Should we then make it mandatory and fund teams so all may participate?
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  • ActivePolicy wrote...
    Landmark Moment
    March 4, 2013 4:33 pm
    “This is a landmark moment for students with disabilities. This will do for students with disabilities what Title IX did for women.” - Terri Lakowski Please refer to our website for updates and analysis www.activepolicysolutions.com
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