Imagine having to travel over 7,000 miles to a foreign country, with a strange language and strange customs and unfamiliar food, to compete on a world stage. Lots of strange people all around you, no family, only you and your team mates.... You walk into the crowded stadium, the hoards of people are screaming for you. The pressure builds, but you must stay focused, you have one goal to accomplish... make it first over the finish line... your team and your country are counting on you...
Now imagine doing this with Autism...
For some individuals with Autism social interaction, and noisy crowded places can be quite challenging.
Marissa has worked for Handi-Crafters (www.handi-crafters.org ) for over 4 years. Between her job at Handi-Crafters, her second job at Goodwill and training at the speed skating rink, Marissa is a busy girl. Her obstacles in life have been significant to overcome. She not only overcame her challenges, she exceeded all expectations! She won not one but three gold medals at the Winter Special Olympics World games held Jan 29-Feb 5 in Pyeong Chang South Korea this year.
Her Mom Heather says "I always told her she could accomplish anything she wants to in life. I made them push her in school and not just teach her life skills".
Marissa's medals were in the 200,300 and 500 meter races. When asked about how she felt she replied "I felt excited, I thought I came in second, (1 competitor was disqualified) but I was first, I had tears coming down".
No comments:
Post a Comment