If I haven't had much contact with people with intellectual disabilities, what should I expect? It is understandable to be a little nervous or even uncomfortable at first around someone who is different than you in some way. People with intellectual disabilities learn more slowly than other people their age, so you can count on the fact that Special Olympics athletes have been identified as people who learn slower. But beyond that, they are just like everyone else — individuals with unique challenges, talents, abilities and interests. Relax and enjoy getting to know them. “At my first Special Olympics event, my tendency was to coddle, to be kind and to let nothing go wrong that might embarrass the athletes or, worse yet, me. Finally, I got it. I had let go of my preconceptions. I had immersed myself and really listened and learned. I was now able to look beyond the disability to the common ground. I found that in accepting that which I knew to be different, I was able to embrace that which was actually more alike.”           — Ray Lane, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; Vice Chair, Special Olympics Board of Directors Special Olympics Uganda volunteer coach Samuel Mubiru acknowledges that being a person with an intellectual disability can be difficult in his country. "But when you get to know people with intellectual disabilities, you learn they are just like everyone else," said Mubiru. Here he poses with one of his athletes, Ambrose Mukwaya. [Photo by Kathy Smallwood] "Many people tend to keep their sense of humor to themselves around Special Olympics athletes," said Dave Lenox, Special Olympics Vice President, Sports & Competition, "perhaps because they are afraid athletes won't 'get it.' But the most fun I have with athletes — as with most people — is when we share a joke or jab." Lenox terms a sense of humor "critical" and reminds volunteers to "relax and let themselves laugh. When they do, they give the athlete permission to laugh and relax as well." There's no "typical" Special Olympics athlete. With no maximum age limitation for participation in Special Olympics (the minimum age requirement for participation in competition is 8 years of age; the  Young Athletes™ program strengthens physical development and self-esteem for children ages 2 through 7 by building skills for future sports participation and socialization), you'll meet both children and adults. Training and competition opportunities are open to all persons with intellectual disabilities, 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 a wide range can be seen in any Special Olympics Program. Special Olympics Alaska athlete Ryan Atkinson (left) and his 2003 Global Youth Summit partner Angela Wegscheider offer insight into how to treat Special Olympics athletes.    •  WMV file, 512K stream, (4M)    •  WMV file , 56K stream, (306K) If you have questions about certain diagnoses or terms you hear after getting to know athletes in your area, the Coaching Special Olympics Athletes section of this Web site is a valuable resource — even if you are not volunteering as a coach — for definitions and explanations. If you want to know more about eligibility requirements for Special Olympics athletes, visit the Eligibility page in our Compete section. Find out about a variety of issues concerning people with intellectual disabilities in the Research section. You can learn more about other volunteers’ experiences — and how rewarding volunteering has been — by visiting What's it like to volunteer with Special Olympics? or the Meet our Volunteers section of this site.      Return to the "Why Volunteer?" main page