Box 18

The focal point that I have observed in the Special Olympics is the gymnasium where they practice. A focal point is a place where the people of a particular culture gather and spend their time. This however, is just the meeting place of the season. In the fall, they typically will meet at a local football field or track. In the winter, it is in a bowling alley. For the spring and summer, the sports vary from indoor and outdoor activities, but most take place in a gym similar or the same as the gym that my fieldwork takes place in. My perspective is that this is an ordinary gym, similar to one found in any school in America. However, the participants of the Special Olympics may view it differently. I have recently found out that until the 1970's, children with special needs could be excluded from a public school education. For the older participants (and those do exist; some are in their late sixties), this gym may be a haven to them. Because some of them may have been denied a public education, they may have also been excluded from playing in a gym like is typical for any child in the American school system now. This focal point may be exciting and a place that they feel included in after being excluded for so long. This gymnasium may be a place where they can speak and hear their voices being heard loud and clear, in the echo of the room. People who are generally seen as so fragile have a chance to prove that they can play just as hard or as long as typically developing athletes. They have the opportunity to have an experience that most others take for granted. So from my vantage point, this gym is just a gym. But to the Special Olympic athletes, it may be more than that. It may be one more chance at "normalcy."