Special Spirit is an event that provides Special Olympic athletes the chance to play basketball in a college environment. This provides them with the full experience, mascots, dancers, and a gym packed full of screaming fans. This event took place on Tuesday April 10th, 2018 in the UNH Lundholm Gymnasium. The participants I was observing were the Special Olympic basketball players. Both teams were comprised of both genders and were in the age range of 16-40. The teams represented two local high schools, one being the Pinkerton Astros and the other being the Portsmouth Clippers. Both teams represented their school by wearing their unique colors, which represent significant symbolic material sport culture. The attendees were people of all ages,
…show more content…
This was an encouraging environment for the individuals with disabilities because they had the opportunity to participate in a sporting event in a college environment and had their own fan base. Before the game started one team stood at center court and made two lines for the opposing team to run through. Each player had their name announced and received high-fives from players on the other team and vice versa. The atmosphere was extremely positive for both teams enjoyment and their reactions were priceless. People in the audience were cheering loudly for the players by clapping and chanting for each team. The players were ecstatic when their own team scored and would occasionally dance for the audience. Throughout the game the special spirit players behavior increasingly became more comfortable and maintained respectful towards one …show more content…
The symbolic interaction allowed the special spirit players this opportunity to participate in a college environment that may have been unfamiliar to some. An example of the behavior of the players was shown through excessive high-fives or hugs given to help support their teammates. In addition, I learned that it is easy to judge people based off of their physical appearance instead of what they are actually capable of doing. I think this is automatically an inference that is associated for people with disabilities. Disability is hidden and there is a lot of stigma behind it. Most players didn’t even look like they had one, but based off of the event itself it is easy to assume who may or may not have a disability. This event was supportive for the special spirit athletes as well as raised awareness for community members that attended the event to better understand disability. Socialization is important for any population but for people with disabilities it may impact their social involvement much more. Resocialization is the process of discarding values and behaviors unsuited to new circumstances and replacing them with new, more appropriate values and norms. (Ferrante, 2012, p.109). As this occurs, disability will hopefully trend towards becoming more normalized within
This was an encouraging environment for the individuals with disabilities because they had the opportunity to participate in a sporting event in a college environment and had their own fan base. Before the game started one team stood at center court and made two lines for the opposing team to run through. Each player had their name announced and received high-fives from players on the other team and vice versa. The atmosphere was extremely positive for both teams enjoyment and their reactions were priceless. People in the audience were cheering loudly for the players by clapping and chanting for each team. The players were ecstatic when their own team scored and would occasionally dance for the audience. Throughout the game the special spirit players behavior increasingly became more comfortable and maintained respectful towards one …show more content…
The symbolic interaction allowed the special spirit players this opportunity to participate in a college environment that may have been unfamiliar to some. An example of the behavior of the players was shown through excessive high-fives or hugs given to help support their teammates. In addition, I learned that it is easy to judge people based off of their physical appearance instead of what they are actually capable of doing. I think this is automatically an inference that is associated for people with disabilities. Disability is hidden and there is a lot of stigma behind it. Most players didn’t even look like they had one, but based off of the event itself it is easy to assume who may or may not have a disability. This event was supportive for the special spirit athletes as well as raised awareness for community members that attended the event to better understand disability. Socialization is important for any population but for people with disabilities it may impact their social involvement much more. Resocialization is the process of discarding values and behaviors unsuited to new circumstances and replacing them with new, more appropriate values and norms. (Ferrante, 2012, p.109). As this occurs, disability will hopefully trend towards becoming more normalized within