u/Mindless-Piece4748

: Special Olympics banned my autistic family member for having an involuntary sensory meltdown. Has anyone else faced this?

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Hi everyone. I’m trying to process an incredibly frustrating situation and see if anyone else has dealt with this.

My family member, Gilly, is a 24-year-old gold-medal swimmer with autism and severe sensory processing issues. At a recent major event, the extreme crowd noise and loud environment triggered an involuntary "fight-or-flight" sensory meltdown, and he screamed.

Instead of helping him or providing a quiet space, the Special Olympics kicked him out and banned him from the upcoming USA Games. They are strictly enforcing their text-heavy "Athlete Code of Conduct," claiming his meltdown was "disruptive behavior." They are treating a biological symptom of his disability as willful misconduct.

To make it worse, they are completely stonewalling us. We have requested the written incident reports and the official paperwork regarding the decision to kick him out, and they are refusing to provide anything in writing.

Has anyone else dealt with the Special Olympics discriminating against lower-functioning or highly sensory-sensitive athletes? How did you fight a ban when the organization refused to give you the paperwork?

Special Olympics banned my autistic family member for having an involuntary sensory meltdown. Has anyone else faced this?

Hi everyone. I’m trying to process an incredibly frustrating situation and see if anyone else has dealt with this.

My family member, Gilly, is a 24-year-old gold-medal swimmer with autism and severe sensory processing issues. At a recent major event, the extreme crowd noise and loud environment triggered an involuntary "fight-or-flight" sensory meltdown, and he screamed.

Instead of helping him or providing a quiet space, the Special Olympics kicked him out and banned him from the upcoming USA Games. They are strictly enforcing their text-heavy "Athlete Code of Conduct," claiming his meltdown was "disruptive behavior." They are treating a biological symptom of his disability as willful misconduct.

To make it worse, they are completely stonewalling us. We have requested the written incident reports and the official paperwork regarding the decision to kick him out, and they are refusing to provide anything in writing.

Has anyone else dealt with the Special Olympics discriminating against lower-functioning or highly sensory-sensitive athletes? How did you fight a ban when the organization refused to give you the paperwork?