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Betsy DeVos's threats to the Special Olympics are cruel. But disabled people have bigger problems.
The news that the Department of Education wants to cut the Special Olympics earmark in its 2020 budget proposal has sparked widespread outrage.
It’s understandable. The 51-year-old Special Olympics program, which offers programming in schools in addition to sports competitions and training for disabled athletes, has become an accessible and familiar face of disability. Though some in the disability community feel it feeds “inspirational” stereotypes and language like “special” demeans disabled athletes, it is widely beloved for the services it provides to the developmental disability community.
But the general public’s hyperfocus on the program is also frustrating; this cut is unlikely to make it into an appropriations bill, as seen when the department tried it last year. Meanwhile, other funding decisions that harm disabled students as well as all children most likely will get enacted, and they deserve broader attention.
...
The proposed Special Olympics cuts will likely never come to pass — and may in fact be calculated to spark outrage so Republicans can look magnanimous when they decline to put it in the final budget, giving a “win” where one really isn’t deserved. But plenty of others will, and failing to pay attention to them could prove dangerous.
https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/3/28/18285277/betsy-devos-special-olympics-budget-cuts
It’s understandable. The 51-year-old Special Olympics program, which offers programming in schools in addition to sports competitions and training for disabled athletes, has become an accessible and familiar face of disability. Though some in the disability community feel it feeds “inspirational” stereotypes and language like “special” demeans disabled athletes, it is widely beloved for the services it provides to the developmental disability community.
But the general public’s hyperfocus on the program is also frustrating; this cut is unlikely to make it into an appropriations bill, as seen when the department tried it last year. Meanwhile, other funding decisions that harm disabled students as well as all children most likely will get enacted, and they deserve broader attention.
...
The proposed Special Olympics cuts will likely never come to pass — and may in fact be calculated to spark outrage so Republicans can look magnanimous when they decline to put it in the final budget, giving a “win” where one really isn’t deserved. But plenty of others will, and failing to pay attention to them could prove dangerous.
https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/3/28/18285277/betsy-devos-special-olympics-budget-cuts