SpecialStories

Original Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
By Tanya Mannes
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Nov 3, 2008
SAN DIEGO – The first time Patrick Ivison, 14, went surfing, he said, “It felt like flying.”
The blond teenager with the cracking voice and braces has been in a wheelchair most of his life because of a childhood spinal injury. But Patrick’s disability hasn’t [...]

This story isn’t about an athlete with disabilities (although an injury might be considered a temporary disability) but it is definitely inspiring.
Original story
By Joseph B. Frazier
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND, Ore. – With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she had never [...]

Major Character with a Disability: Alex (played by Joey McFarland, Joshua O’Neill, and Ted Polito)
Short Description
A mother educates about people with Down Syndrome like her son.
First Broadcast on CBS (US Network) on November 8, 1987
Main Cast:

Tyne Daly - Joanna Goodman Richard Crenna - Bob Goodman
Martin Balsam - Grandpa
Joey McFarland - Alex–Age 4
Joshua O’Neill [...]

Original source: The Gazette
Six young adults with Down Syndrome will travel to Peru, live in a village and climb to Machu Picchu. The trip is intended to show that people with the condition can contribute to a community
IRWIN BLOCK, The Gazette
At the end of May, six young adults will be flying to Peru to live [...]

Major Performers with a Disability: Wyatt, Henry, Adam, Lexi, Neal
First Broadcast on HBO (US Network) in March, 2008

Information from tv.com

Cast
Main Cast
Elaine Hall
Wyatt
Henry
Adam
Lexi
Neal
Description
Five autistic children seize the spotlight in this moving documentary about a troubling disorder affecting too many children in the world today. Focusing on the children, the camera follows the families as they struggle [...]

Repeating History
Female actresses were not allowed on the English stage until 1660 so in
Shakespeare’s plays female roles were played by young boys. How quaint
we think now. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, African Americans
were portrayed by whites in black face. How racist we think
now. Today the gay and lesbian community questions why so many [...]

Original Source: Brudirect.com News
Bandar Seri Begawan -– Three of the country’s special athletes who have intellectual disabilities are physically and mentally ready to take up the challenge in participating in the 3rd Special Olympics at Mount Kinabalu Climbathon in Sabah, Malaysia.
These special athletes, two students from the Bengkurong Pusat Ehsan and the other from the [...]

Original Source: the Onion
WASHINGTON, DC-– Three months after the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, the International Special Olympics Committee has begun to investigate charges that athletes used performance-enhancing hugs in their training and directly before competing in key events.
“These people have no shame,” ISOC chairman Bill Evans said Monday. “Right before a [...]

Original Source: TheStar.com (Toronto Star; you must register to read)
Author: George Gamester
`I realized you have two choices: Lie down and let life pass you by. Or stand up and participate’
Life threw Harry Titus a few punches, including blindness, so he fought back. And he won
Story
Listen, there’s this Karate Kid we want you to meet.
Sure, [...]

Original Source: Centre Daily Times
By Chris Rosenblum
crosenbl@centredaily.com
PATTON TOWNSHIP -– Behind Kyle Heichel’s 11-year-old eyes lies a month-old infant.
He is helpless, speechless, paralyzed from the neck down since birth by either a stroke in utero or his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.
Christine Heichel isn’t sure which led to her son’s cerebral atrophy, daily seizures and [...]