Special Olympics is committed to co
aching excellence. The most import
ant thing to know as a coach in
Special Olympics is that athl
etes are individuals, and coaching them is
just like coaching any other youth or
community sports team. But we recognize that ther
e are some situations that make Special Olympics
coaching unique, Athletes are people who have been id
entified as slow learners; beyond that, they are
just like everyone else, individuals wi
th unique challenges, talents, abilit
ies and interests. People with an
intellectual disability learn just like everyone else
, they use different strategies and strengths to help
them understand. Some learn best through seeing th
ings, others through hearing
things, some need to
feel what it is like to do something before they can learn it.