Disabled athletes should not be differentiated from non-disabled athletes
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“You’re not disabled by the disabilities you have, you’re able by the abilities you have,” said Oscar Pistorius, a South African former runner, who had his legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old. All over the world, there are people who dream of being a professional athlete. In the world today there are over 48.9 million people with disabilities. These people also want to be able to do sports like everyone else. People with disabilities should not be pushed down because of their disabilities. We must provide equal opportunity in sports to people with disabilities.
Jake Olson is a high school football player from Wisconsin. He is also blind. Jake lost his left eye to cancer when he was 11 months old. When he turned 12 he was a fan of football and the USC Trojans. At this time doctors decided that his right eye would also need to be removed. After this, he grew up to play for the Trojans as a long snapper. Jake was one of the few people with disabilities who got to compete professionally. There are others who have dreams of becoming professionals, but they get pushed down by people bullying them and saying that they can’t compete in sports because of a disability. Some people do realize that people should not be treated differently in sports because of disabilities, and everyone needs to try to be like those people. One of these people was Dr. Ludwig Guttmann. He thought of the idea of a parallel series of games to the Olympics for disabled people called the Paralympics, in 1948. He thought that everyone should be able to treat each other the same and look past their disabilities. The Paralympics have now become extremely important.They show that disabled people should not be discriminated and that they are as good at sports as non-disabled athletes. Rosie McRackan is a 6-year-old girl who loves to play T-ball, even though she has an artificial arm, and leg. Rosie’s life has always been about beating the odds. Her parents have always tried to encourage her even when there are problems caused because of her artificial limbs. She has always loved t-ball and now wanted to play in a team. Her parents weren’t sure if she would be able to play because of her disabilities, but she proved them wrong. Rosie shows that you shouldn’t judge someone by their disabilities, and instead look at their abilities and strengths. This is why Rosie is a good example of why people with disabilities shouldn’t be pushed to the side and discourage. All disabled people should be given the opportunity to play sports. It is not ok for them to have to watch us playing sports. If they have a dream of playing sports professionally they should be allowed to do that. People like Jake Olson, Rosie McRackan, Oscar Pistorius and Ludwig Guttmann have proved this point by showing the world that disabled people can play sports as well as others. Everywhere there are disabled people being bullied and discriminated. If you were a disabled person and you wanted to do sports, but you were being bullied and discriminated, you would also feel that this needs to change. This is why I believe that everyone needs to make a difference. Discrimination must change and we are the only people who can change it.