New Hanover County families question eligibility requirements for local and state Special Olympics
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Families of children with Down syndrome in New Hanover County are raising concern over Special Olympics guidelines.
WWAY spoke with those families on Friday, along with officials.
“This is her world, or it was her world until I took her out of it. This is what she has, the Special Olympics. That’s all that’s offered to them,” Mother of two children with Down syndrome, Pat Wiegand, said.
Pat Wiegand and Pam DeGeorge are both parents of adults with Down syndrome.
Over the years, their children have participated in the Special Olympics at both a local and state level.
Both women reached out to WWAY when they felt guidelines surrounding eligibility requirements for the Special Olympics were made unclear. Guidelines they interpreted meant Special Olympians must be “independent” in order to travel to an event.
“Like I kind of question that, because I’m like, if they’re independent, then should they really be involved in Special Olympics? Because the eligibility to participate in Special Olympics is an intellectual disability which affects their ability to be independent in life,” Mother of two children with Down syndrome, Pam DeGeorge, said.
DeGeorge said along with the confusing language of the guidelines, she felt she needed to question why it is that participants must be independent.
“What are they gonna be doing? Who is going to be watching them? Are they going to be alone for large amounts of time,” DeGeorge said.
Both DeGeorge and Wiegand said they’ve had good experiences over the years with the Special Olympics, but recently, they feel they’ve been left with unanswered questions.
“They had a great time, and they were equals. They were equals and slowly but surely, it’s changed,” Wiegand said.
WWAY reached out to Special Olympics New Hanover County who referred us to Special Olympics North Carolina.
Keith Fishburne is the CEO and President of Special Olympics North Carolina. He said this was all a misunderstanding, and when they say independent, they mean being able to bathe themselves and use the restroom on their own.
He provided a statement, saying in part:
“Special Olympics North Carolina … does not have any requirement that its athletes have to be independent in order to travel to Special Olympics events that involve overnight stays … We allow family members or other designated caregivers to provide one-on-one support as chaperons if their child needs assistance in an overnight setting so that everyone is in a safe and appropriate environment involving overnight situations.
— Keith Fishburne, CEO & President
Fishburne added, that in situations where an athlete cannot take care of their own personal hygiene, the Special Olympics can make accommodations.
