Bowling is Better with Friends
We are just a few weeks into our second year of Special Olympics Bowling. As you may or may not remember, we had sort of mixed reviews on the Special Olympics bowling last year. Our main issues boiled down to the fact that it seemed like the league was created more with the adult special needs community in mind. The start time was set before most local schools were even let out. They were willing to make accommodations for those of us that had to arrive a bit later. But with the number of participants involved that meant that the younger kids, like Damion, had to wait until lanes opened up before they were able to start. We love good turnouts for things like this, but it was very crowded and very overstimulating at times and as we all know, waiting is always the hardest part.
I’m not sure if the person running the program took my advice on the subject or saw the issues for themselves; either way, they made some adjustments this year which have really helped things move along more smoothly. The main point was they have the adult and child start times separated, with the kids’ start time being late enough so that they are actually out of school before the session starts. I believe this may have been what attracted some of the new faces that we didn’t get to see in the program last year, as many families probably didn’t even attempt to sign up since they didn’t think they could make the sessions in time.
Lucky for us, some of the “new faces” to the program were actually ones that Damion is very familiar with. After arriving and getting set up like usual, Damion was immediately all smiles as he saw one of his classmates from school come in the door. Then just a few minutes later another friend, who was in Damion’s class last year but had recently moved schools, showed up as well. Lucky for us, those two boys were set up to bowl in the lane right next to Damion. I saw more smiles on Damion’s face in that first bowling session than I saw the whole season last year.
After last year, we contemplated whether or not to even sign up for Special Olympics Bowling this year, as many visits last year were a bit of a struggle. We decided to give it another go after seeing that they adjusted the start times and because I always hold hope that it will be a place where Damion can make some new friends. Even though I know with all the noise and additional stimuli and the fact that many of the kids have similar social and communication barriers like Damion, that is a pretty tall order. I do, however, see how much having some established friends come into the mix added to the fun. Those three boys were all smiling and talking and laughing with each other the whole time. It makes me think that I need to be more proactive in reaching out to friends like this when we are interested in taking up a new activity and seeing if they want to join in too, because sure, bowling is fun, but it is always more fun with friends.
