What is Special Olympics?
Special Olympics is a global organization that unleashes the human spirit through the transformative power and joy of sport, every day around the world. Special Olympics Illinois is a not-for-profit organization offering year-round training and competition in 18 sports for more than 21,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics transforms the lives of people with intellectual disabilities, allowing them to realize their full potential in sports and in life. Special Olympics programs enhance physical fitness, motor skills, self-confidence, social skills and encourage family and community support.
What are the eligibility requirements for the AHSD25 All-Stars team?
The student must attend a SD25 school.
The student must be 8 years old or older.
The student must meet the intellectual requirements.
What are the intellectual requirements?
Participation in Special Olympics training and competition is open to all persons with intellectual disabilities who meet the age requirement regardless of the level or degree of that person's disability, and whether or not that person also has other mental or physical disabilities, so long as that person registers to participate in Special Olympics as required by the Special Olympics Incorporated General Rules.
A person is considered to have intellectual disabilities for purposes of determining his or her eligibility to participate in Special Olympics if that person satisfies any one of the following requirements:
1. The person has been identified by an agency or professional as having intellectual disabilities as determined by their localities: or
2. The person has a cognitive delay, as determined by standardized measures such as intelligent quotient or "IQ" testing or other measures which are generally accepted within the professional community in that Chapter's nation as being a reliable measurement of the existence of a cognitive delay; or
3. The person has a closely related developmental disability. A "closely related developmental disability" means having functional limitations in either general learning direction or self-care. However, persons whose functional limitations are based solely on a physical, behavioral, or emotional disability, or a specific learning or sensory disability, are not eligible to participate as Special Olympics athletes, but may be eligible to volunteer for Special Olympics as partners in Unified Sports, if they otherwise meet the separate eligibility requirements for participation in Unified Sports which are set forth in the Special Olympics Incorporated Unified Sports Handbook.
