Wherever Rosemary Paris goes in the Olive Mountains, she meets people who know her daughter Gabriela.
GiGi, who has Down Syndrome, was a year-round athlete with a general education at Mount Olive High School and the Queen of Homecoming. She even appeared on a billboard in Times Square sponsored by the National Society for Down Syndrome.
Sport is key to GiGi’s popularity, surprising even Rosemary, a special education teacher at MacKinnon High School in Wharton.
GiGi was part of Mount Olive’s field hockey, basketball and softball teams along with her neurotypical peers. She also participates in the Mount Olive Unified Athletics Program, which brings together students with intellectual disabilities and neurotypical partners.
Combined clubs, teams and events often require less time commitment than their general education equivalents. But there are some limitations to what can be called Unified, or how inclusive these programs should be.
David May of Morristown believes Unified is more restrictive than promised by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The ADA prohibits discrimination on the grounds of disability. The related Law on the Education of Persons with Disabilities provides free appropriate public education to more than 7.5 million eligible children with disabilities – in at least restrictive environments – and guarantees special education and related services.
May would prefer students with special needs to compete with athletes of one generation on a team. But Unified does not allow university athletes to be team partners during the season, so their experience and experience with activities vary.
“All Unified has done is make it the most restrictive environment in the whole place,” May said. “Some parents are just happy that their children are active and have no idea what it means to be separate in the United team and not connect with the other (hesitant) team … This really gave the children opportunities. to play sports, but this is not the least restrictive environment. “
Divided but unequal?
Autism has never stopped Ryan May from being part of the Morristown Swimming Team, which includes several swimmers with physical and intellectual disabilities over the years. David May made breakfast and took Ryan to workout at 6 a.m. almost every school day for six years.
Ryan participated in about half of the meetings during his high school career, wearing the same burgundy suit and bright orange hat as everyone else on the list. Between events, he usually applauded his teammates from the end of the stands, closest to the starting blocks. Ryan, who turns 24 in July, didn’t talk much, but he usually smiled and raised two thumbs.
“What I say to parents who are first diagnosed, whether it’s Down syndrome, autism or something else,” You will always be their parent. What you need to become is a crazy advocate, “said May, co-founder of Kids2Kids, a Morristown nonprofit that mentors children with special needs through activities led by neurotypical peers.
“If you have a child with special needs, you realize very early on how isolated you are. You don’t invite them to anything: birthdays, events … It’s so painful for these children not to participate in anything.”
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In an effort to provide opportunities for a larger population of student-athletes, the New Jersey State Inter-School Athletic Association announced a partnership with Special Olympics New Jersey at the June 2016 Champions Summit. respect and dignity for all students.
There are now more than 250 in New Jersey, and SONJ CEO Bill DePonte hopes to have at least 300 in the fall.
“Inclusion has been around for a long time and means different things to different people,” Deponte said. “It’s about engaging people of all abilities.”
Champion schools are supported by funding from the United States Department of Education and New Jersey, although DePonte said they are encouraged to become self-sufficient. SONJ grants to support things like scholarships for coaches and club advisors, uniforms, travel, officials and technology.
The NJSIAA currently sponsors United Basketball and Bowling in Winter and Spring Athletics. The combined swimming will be added to the list this winter, with a mixed relay expected to take place during the NJSIAA Champions Meeting in March.
“It’s cool to meet new people and do different activities,” said Pennsauken freshman Jeremiah Moses, who plans to try out for the football team this fall.
“I have good energy, good sportsmanship, just a good mood everywhere. We are like a big family.”
Sparta and Mount Olive were the first two major schools to enter the NJSIAA Freestyle Athletics Championships on June 8 at Franklin High School. Morristown won the small school division.
In recent years, several Unified events have been mixed into the group championship schedule, dividing the teams into multiple sites.
“After 50 years in business, Special Olympics knows it has to do better,” said Kelly Ann Kiefer, assistant director of Voorhees High School, assistant director at Voorhees High School, the first in New Jersey to be recognized as a nationally integrated school. for champions.
“Unified is a way to do that. The students I support will not be able to play sports or participate in the play without Unified … We have some important students (with disabilities) and they will not have access to them. at least the limiting environment, not for a second. Our main goal is for every student to have access to their high school experience in the best possible way. “
The best of both worlds
Rosemary Parisi said GiGi is “thriving” after going to high school for sports. She loved field hockey so much that Rosemary bought her a stick, balls and a net to train in the family yard. She scored 150 points in her basketball career, entering both college and JV games, “if they win big or lose big,” according to Rosemary Parisi.
GiGi entered softball three years ago, and although she rarely came into the game due to safety concerns, Rosemary Parisi said her role was to be in the dugout, to applaud all the girls, to help the coach (Bill Romano) when he get stressed. ”
“It takes a lot to be on a generated team: a lot of endurance, understanding, good behavior, good health,” said Rosemary Parisi. “You have to have a coach to support him. You have to have an assistant in the background if something happens. If there are health problems, people need to be trained. We all worked very hard to make it happen. GiGi is the poster for a child to join a sports team, but that’s only because we did it right. Not everyone can do it. “
GiGi is now 22 and has just graduated from high school in Mount Olive. Rosemary Parisi hopes her daughter can volunteer as a mentor or coach in the Joint Program in the fall to maintain “team friendship”.
That’s one thing Michael McCloskey was looking for when he joined the cross country, bowling, and spring track teams at West Milford High School. But when she tried out for the New Jersey team before the US Special Olympics, Gina McCloskey told her son, “This is your time to shine. This is your place. “
Michael McCloskey, a sophomore with autism and seizures, appeared on ESPN’s social media broadcasts after returning at the last second in the midst of the 1,500 meters on June 7.
In the three weeks before the US Games, McCloskey moved from track training to the Special Olympics on Tuesdays and Thursdays, often accompanied by both senior Chase Appell and junior Wyatt Space, longtime partners of West Milford Unified. On Sunday, Gina McCloskey drove her son and Destiny Gareth of Hewitt to a two-hour training session for the New Jersey team at Point Pleasant.
“The Special Olympics gives everyone a place to be themselves, completely. You don’t have to do a show for anyone else, “said West Milford Special Olympics coach Christy Clive, who teaches multiple disability classes at Maple Road Primary School in West Milford.
“Unified changes cultures if you do it right. If you find some really great kids and a few partners who aren’t involved in anything … you put them on that team and give them a goal. You will change their lives. Not only children with special needs, but also those children who have never felt needed and have never felt loved, this will make them all part of something. “
Jane Hawsey is a narrator for the Daily Record and DailyRecord.com, part of the USA TODAY network. For full access to live results, breaking news and analysis, subscribe today.
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