Subtitles section Play video
-
Hello.
-
My name is Matthew Williams,
-
and I am a champion.
-
I have won medals in three different sports
-
and national games in Canada,
-
competed at the international level in basketball
-
and was proud to represent Canada
-
on the world stage.
-
(Applause)
-
I train five days a week for basketball and speed skating,
-
work with top quality coaches
-
and mental performance consultants
-
to be at my best in my sport.
-
By the way, all that is through Special Olympics.
-
Does that change the way you think of me
-
and my accomplishments?
-
The world does not see all people like me as champions.
-
Not long ago, people like me were shunned and hidden away.
-
There has been lots of change since Special Olympics began in 1968,
-
but in too many cases,
-
people with intellectual disabilities
-
are invisible to the wider population.
-
People use the r-word in front of me, and they think it doesn't matter.
-
That's the word "retard" or "retarded"
-
used in a derogatory manner.
-
They're not thinking about how much it hurts me and my friends.
-
I don't want you to think I'm here because I'm a charity case.
-
I am here because there is still a big problem with the way
-
many people see individuals with intellectual disabilities,
-
or, too often,
-
how they don't see them at all.
-
Did you know the World Games happened this year?
-
I was one of over 6,500 athletes with intellectual disabilities
-
from 165 countries who competed in LA.
-
There was over 62,000 spectators watching opening ceremonies,
-
and there was live coverage on TSN and ESPN.
-
Did you even know that happened?
-
What do you think of when you see someone like me?
-
I am here today to challenge you
-
to look at us as equals.
-
Special Olympics transforms the self-identity of athletes
-
with intellectual disabilities
-
and the perceptions of everyone watching.
-
For those of you who aren't familiar,
-
Special Olympics is for athletes with intellectual disabilities.
-
Special Olympics is separate from the Paralympics and Olympics.
-
We offer high-quality, year round sports programs
-
for people with intellectual disabilities
-
that changes lives and perceptions.
-
This movement has changed my life
-
and those of so many others.
-
And it has changed the way
-
the world sees people with intellectual disabilities.
-
I was born with epilepsy and an intellectual disability.
-
Growing up, I played hockey until I was 12 years old.
-
The older I got, the more I felt
-
it was harder to keep up with everyone else,
-
and I was angry and frustrated.
-
For a while, I did not play any sports,
-
didn't have many friends
-
and felt left out and sad.
-
There was a time when people with intellectual disabilities
-
were hidden away from society.
-
No one thought they could participate in sports,
-
let alone be a valued member of society.
-
In the 1960s, Dr. Frank Hayden,
-
a scientist at the University of Toronto,
-
was studying the effects of regular exercise
-
on the fitness levels of children with intellectual disabilities.
-
Using rigorous scientific research,
-
Dr. Hayden and other researchers
-
came to the conclusion
-
that it was simply the lack of opportunity to participate
-
that caused their fitness levels to suffer.
-
Lots of people doubted that people with intellectual disabilities
-
could benefit from fitness programs
-
and sports competition opportunities.
-
But pioneers like Dr. Hayden and Eunice Kennedy Shriver,
-
the founder of Special Olympics,
-
persevered,
-
and Special Olympics athletes have proved them right
-
four and a half million times over.
-
(Applause)
-
Before I joined Special Olympics,
-
I was nervous
-
because I was young, shy, not confident
-
and didn't have many friends.
-
When I got there, though, everyone was very encouraging,
-
supportive, and let me be myself
-
without being judged.
-
Now, I am a basketball player and speed skater
-
who has competed at provincial, national games,
-
and this year made it all the way to the World Summer Games in LA,
-
where I was part of the first ever Canadian basketball team
-
to compete at World Games.
-
(Applause)
-
I am one of more than four and a half million athletes around the globe,
-
and I've heard so many similar stories.
-
Being Special Olympics athletes
-
restores our pride and dignity.
-
Special Olympics also addresses critical health needs.
-
Studies have shown that, on average,
-
men with intellectual disabilities
-
die 13 years younger than men without,
-
and women with intellectual disabilities
-
die 20 years younger than women without.
-
Special Olympics keeps us healthy
-
by getting us active
-
and participating in sport.
-
Also, our coaches teach us about nutrition and health.
-
Special Olympics also provides free health screening
-
for athletes who have difficulty communicating with their doctor
-
or accessing health care.
-
At the 2015 World Summer Games,
-
my Team Canada teammates and I played the Nigerian basketball team.
-
The day before our game,
-
the Nigerian basketball team went to the World Games Healthy Athlete screening,
-
where seven of 10 members
-
were given hearing aids for free
-
and got to hear clearly for the first time.
-
(Applause)
-
The change in them was amazing.
-
They were more excited, happy and confident,
-
because their coach could vocally communicate with them.
-
And they were emotional
-
because they could hear the sounds of the basketball,
-
the sounds of the whistle
-
and the cheering fans in the stands --
-
sounds that we take for granted.
-
Special Olympics is transforming more than just the athlete in their sport.
-
Special Olympics is transforming their lives off the field.
-
This year, research findings showed
-
that nearly half of the adults in the US
-
don't know a single person with an intellectual disability,
-
and the 44 percent of Americans
-
who don't have personal contact with intellectual disabilities
-
are significantly less accepting and positive.
-
Then there's the r-word,
-
proving that people with intellectual disabilities
-
are still invisible
-
to far too many people.
-
People use it as a casual term or an insult.
-
It was tweeted more than nine million times last year,
-
and it is deeply hurtful
-
to me and my four and a half million fellow athletes around the planet.
-
People don't think it's insulting,
-
but it is.
-
As my fellow athlete and global messenger John Franklin Stephens wrote
-
in an open letter to a political pundit
-
who used the r-word as an insult,
-
"Come join us someday at Special Olympics.
-
See if you walk away with your heart unchanged."
-
(Applause)
-
This year, at the 2015 World Summer Games,
-
people lined up for hours
-
to get into the final night of powerlifting competition.
-
So it was standing room only when my teammate Jackie Barrett,
-
the Newfoundland Moose,
-
deadlifted 655 pounds
-
and lifted 611 pounds in the squat --
-
(Applause)
-
setting huge new records for Special Olympics.
-
Jackie is a record holder among all powerlifters in Newfoundland --
-
not just Special Olympics, all powerlifters.
-
Jackie was a huge star in LA,
-
and ESPN live-tweeted his record-breaking lifts
-
and were wowed by his performance.
-
Fifty years ago, few imagined individuals with intellectual disabilities
-
could do anything like that.
-
This year, 60,000 spectators filled the famous LA Memorial Coliseum
-
to watch the opening ceremonies of World Games
-
and cheer athletes from 165 countries
-
around the world.
-
Far from being hidden away,
-
we were cheered and celebrated.
-
Special Olympics teaches athletes
-
to be confident and proud of themselves.
-
Special Olympics teaches the world
-
that people with intellectual disabilities
-
deserve respect and inclusion.
-
(Applause)
-
Now, I have dreams and achievements in my sport,
-
great coaches,
-
respect and dignity,
-
better health,
-
and I am pursuing a career as a personal trainer.
-
(Applause)
-
I am no longer hidden, bullied
-
and I am here doing a TED Talk.
-
(Applause)
-
The world is a different place because of Special Olympics,
-
but there is still farther to go.
-
So the next time you see someone with an intellectual disability,
-
I hope you will see their ability.
-
The next time someone uses the r-word near you,
-
I hope you will tell them how much it hurts.
-
I hope you will think about getting involved with Special Olympics.
-
(Applause)
-
I would like to leave you with one final thought.
-
Nelson Mandela said,
-
"Sports has the power to change the world."
-
Special Olympics is changing the world
-
by transforming four and a half million athletes
-
and giving us a place to be confident,
-
meet friends,
-
not be judged
-
and get to feel like and be champions.
-
Thank you very much.
-
(Applause)