I’m Over Being “A Hero” by Ben Haack
Hi, my name is Ben Haack, I’m an Athlete Leader from Australia, I have been a Special Olympics athlete for 21 years, and I sit on the board of Special Olympics International. Now that the facts are out of the way I want to drop some truth bombs, as they say.
People with intellectual disabilities (ID) are often plopped into one of two categories, “inspiring heroes” or “retards.” It stings to be patronized or called a name, but it also hurts because categories aren’t necessary. People with ID are simply people, and like anyone we want to be accepted for who we are. Inclusion is a fundamental need for any community, and to use the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, people with ID should be judged solely by “the content of their character.” For over 50 years Special Olympics has represented a valuable and essential need on the planet, which is to recognize the value in and grant respect to every single person no matter their ability. For this, sport is used as the vehicle, and in the disconnected world of today we need this more than ever. Look, Special Olympics International is not composed of big-ticket, world-class sports. We’re basically the “Moneyball” of sport: misfits who change the game.
The challenge of truly changing mindsets is tedious and slow-moving. Organisations that work on empowering people with disabilities are breaking some big rules, particularly in business. One of them is that you should stay on the beaten path of processes that have been shown to work and have value in the traditional way. Inclusion for people with disabilities is uncharted and does not show value in the same way. Research has shown that people with ID report that lack of skills created difficulties for them, which further reduced their confidence and motivation. People with ID experience chronically low levels of employment, averaging 18% in the US[1], reflecting the attitudes, behaviors and low expectations of people without disabilities. This world has so much nastiness, evil and destruction in it and it all comes from exclusion. So why not prevent it or be a part of preventing it?
The answer is simple, but hard. Making meaningful inclusion a key part of life is not just in regards to pledges, campaigns and social media posts. What I mean is people focusing on individual action. If someone is a teacher, engage and integrate a student with ID. Physicians, carve out space to care for people with ID, a historically neglected community, medically. Other specific examples include someone starting an inclusive sport program, volunteering regularly at Special Olympics or disability events, or hiring people with disabilities in their company. It’s these one-off efforts in local communities that add up to meaningful change. It’s walking the walk.
To me, the birthplace of all this is in school and people with ID not being meaningfully engaged with our cohort. People like me are in separate classrooms and facilities and being taught differently. We get bullied, suspended, forced to do home schooling, all to our academic and social detriment. What lesson does this teach fellow youth without ID? Is it any wonder we have so many challenges that then manifest into adult life on both sides? Is it any wonder
this sector then faces their entire lives being separate?
Fortunately, there are Unified Schools rolling out, which in a nutshell is a program where people with and without disabilities engage each other in all facets of school from sports to clubs to class. I see youth without ID refer to peers with ID as friends, treat them with respect, include them in conversation, and make efforts to understand their differences. In youth with ID, I see better social skills and engagement with other people, more confidence, less “problematic” behaviours, and a general readiness and ability to deal with the world around them. With the Unified Schools program there are conversations on inclusion, respect, decent language, and the nature of disability or difference. From there it builds up to a point where youth with and without disabilities become leaders, and these inclusive values and eradication of stereotypes carry over into adulthood. The key long-term challenge here is ensuring this new youth cohort will not only remember these lessons but act on them when they get to the business/corporate side of life. That is the end game and crux of the issue.
Right now, if a woman gives birth to or is raising someone with a disability, what sort of resources and opportunities will they have? Sadly, there is no certainty. Basically, for me right now, I would rather that someone like me isn’t born than experience what is far more likely to happen otherwise: systemic neglect. That certainly does not mean that I don’t want people like me to be born, I just want this poor treatment, setting and environment to go. I want people to see me as “one of them,” not me as an ambassador, and to value and respect people with disabilities and understand their challenges. I want people to also see me and the whole journey that I have had, both the beginning and where I am now. I want differences to no longer be seen in a scary or nasty way and a world that’s less driven by ego, money and power. Things have to change.
I’m over being “a hero” and being on a poster. I don’t mind being an inspiration to people, but without the opportunity to manifest and act on it, what does that mean? In other words, without programs in health, education, sport, and professions this does not happen. I’m tireless because I am living this. Like anyone, especially someone in a marginalised community like me, I believe respect and dignity are basic human rights as we all move through the world in our different circumstances and realities. Biases surrounding race, gender, sexual orientation and, yes, intellectual disability are rampant. I hope you’ll be a part of not only the conversation, but the action of change. I invite you to walk the walk with me.
[1] Fewer U.S. persons with a disability were employed in 2020 with a total employment rate of 17.9%, down from 19.3% in 2019, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
