In March 2020, Gallagher joined Special Olympics International as Official Sponsor of Sport and Coach Programming globally.
Gallagher now works with Special Olympics Australia to help deliver high-quality coaching and sports experiences to people with intellectual disability/autism right across the country.
One of the highlights of this partnership are events that bring Gallagher and Special Olympics athletes together to celebrate inclusion.
Special Olympics has grown from a backyard camp into a global movement that has been transforming the lives of people with an intellectual disability for almost 50 years. The global sporting community was pioneered by the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister to US President John F Kennedy as well as Rosemary who had an intellectual disability. Today, Special Olympics supports over 5 million athletes in 177 countries.
Special Olympics began in Australia in 1976 when many people with an intellectual disability were shut in institutions. While this is no longer the norm in Australia, we continue to seek public support to ensure that people with an intellectual disability are not shut out. By helping us give them opportunities to play sport, together we can open the door to personal achievement, pride and inclusion for some of the marginalised and isolated members of our community.
Any individual with particular limits in cognitive functioning and skills, such as conceptual, social, and practical abilities like language, social, and self-care skills, is said to have an intellectual disability, or ID. These constraints may result in a person learning and developing more slowly or in a different way than a person who is normally developing.
Young athlete Brittney Neill (VIC) who has autism sums up what having an intellectual disability means to her: "I concentrate on what I can do and not what people think I can't. Really, I can do everything anyone else can do. It just takes me longer to learn and process information. I just know I have to keep trying, so that's what I do to achieve my dreams. When I'm running I think a tiger is after me and I say in my head: 'Go, go, go, go'."
Unlike those with a physical disability, it is not always obvious when a person has an intellectual disability. What is obvious at Special Olympics Australia is that many have hidden talents that sport can help them uncover.
The Special Olympics World Games were held in Berlin from 17 to 25 June 2023.
The Special Olympics World Games are the world's largest inclusive sports event. Thousands of athletes with intellectual disabilities compete together in 26 sports. Nine days of exciting and inspiring competitions, by athletes and for athletes.
The Games were a colourful international festival of sports — with the aim of achieving greater recognition and social participation of people with intellectual disabilities in our society.
Gallagher and Special Olympics are joined in their commitment to inclusion and respecting the abilities of all people. We ask you to join us and ensure that every person regardless of their ability can find their team and face their future with confidence.
I pledge to look for the lonely, the isolated, the left out, the challenged and the bullied.
I pledge to overcome the fear of difference and replace it with the power of inclusion.
I #ChooseToInclude.
sign the inclusion pledge
