I have been looking into activities for Isabella to participate in, specifically Special Olympics.
While researching this, I came across the follow:
Athletes must be 8 years of age or older.
Children from ages 2 1/2 to-7 years of age can participate in the Young Athletes Program.
This really bugged me for some reason. I don't like the minimum age limits, especially because with Isabella we don't know how long we will have her for. I would love for her to experience EVERY experience that I could possibly give her. To me it feels like they are leaving the families of young disabled children out, when THEY are the ones that need the most support and sense of family. It is a scary world when you have a special needs child and don't have a network of other families.
I was also told of a pageant for disabled girls and women that is going to be held in Casper this weekend. I thought this would be such a blast for Isabella to enter. Unfortunately once again the littles are left out.
Ages 5-9: Rising Stars
Ages 10 -12: Preteen
Ages 13 -15: Jr. Teen
Ages 16 -19: Teen
Ages 20 – 23: Jr. Miss
Ages 24 – 27: Miss
Ages 28 – 35: Sr. Miss
When I asked the director about the ages, she informed me that that was the way they were run and I wasn't given any further explanation.
I guess I hate when groups of special needs kiddos are left out. If you are going to have a special needs event, PLEASE include all ages. Even if the littles can't do as much as the bigs, they are still an important part of the special needs community.
