Special Olympics is a global movement of people creating a new world of inclusion and community, where every single person is accepted and welcomed, regardless of ability or disability. We are helping to make the world a better, healthier and more joyful place—one athlete, one volunteer, one family member at a time.

About Us

Special Olympics Indiana – Ripely Ohio Dearborn Counties is a nonprofit organization that is a part of the state Special Olympics Indiana movement, using sport, health, education, and leadership programs every day around the world to end discrimination against and empower people with intellectual disabilities.

Founded in 2005, Special Olympics Indiana – Ripley Ohio Dearborn Counties is part of a network of accredited Special Olympics Indiana programs that reaches more than 18,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities statewide. With the support of over 100 coaches and volunteers, Special Olympics Indiana – Ripley Ohio Dearborn Counties provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in more than 15 Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities at no cost to the participants.

Special Olympics Indiana – Ripley Ohio Dearborn Counties receives no federal or state-appropriated funds, is not a United Way Agency, and relies entirely on corporate, civic and individual donations.

Our Focus

The Special Olympics movement is distinct in its vision to empower all people with intellectual disabilities to realize their full potential and develop their skills through year-round sports training and competition.

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 170 million people, or three percent of the world’s population, have intellectual disabilities—the largest disability population in the world. Intellectual disability knows no boundaries. It cuts across the lines of racial, ethnic, educational, social and economic backgrounds, and it can occur in any family. Beginning at age 8, anyone with an intellectual disability can participate in Special Olympics.

Within Special Olympics Indiana-Ripley Ohio Dearborn Counties our focus is the growth of our programs so that we can better serve our existing athletes and reach out to those individuals who have yet not had the opportunity to participate locally in Special Olympics. While we currently serve more than 200 children and adults with intellectual disabilities, Special Olympics Indiana-Ripley Ohio Dearborn Counties still reaches only a fraction of the number of eligible athletes in the three-county service area.

It is estimated that in Ripley, Ohio and Dearborn counties there are approximately 2,500 individuals who are eligible for participation.

Our Mission

To provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, offering them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

Our Vision

Our vision is an inclusive world for all, driven by the power of sport, through which people with intellectual disabilities live active, healthy and fulfilling lives.

  • About Special Olympics Indiana

    Special Olympics Indiana is a nonprofit organization that is a part of the global Special Olympics movement, using sport, health, education and leadership programs every day around the world to end discrimination against and empower people with intellectual disabilities.

    Founded in 1969, Special Olympics Indiana is one of more than 50 Special Olympics affiliates in North America. Our program has grown to include more than 19,000 athletes and Unified partners with the support of more than 10,000 coaches and volunteers throughout the state.

    Special Olympics Indiana receives no federal or state-appropriated funds, is not a United Way Agency, and relies entirely on corporate, civic and individual donations.

    At the core, Special Olympics is a sports organization that uses the power of sport as a catalyst for social change. Through sport, we challenge society. By highlighting how the needs of people with ID are not being met, we expose inequity and exclusion. By drawing attention to the gifts of people with ID, we break down misperceptions and tackle negative attitudes.

  • About Special Olympics International

    Special Olympics International was created by the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation for the benefit of persons with intellectual disabilities.

    Founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the global Special Olympics movement is distinct in its vision to empower all people with intellectual disabilities to realize their full potential and develop their skills through year-round sports training and competition. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 170 million people, or 3 percent of the world’s population, have intellectual disabilities — the largest disability population in the world. Intellectual disability knows no boundaries. It cuts across the lines of racial, ethnic, educational, social and economic backgrounds, and it can occur in any family.

    With the unifying power of sports at its core, Special Olympics has grown to be a movement not about “them,” but about all of “us.” We are a movement that invites the world to think, feel and act differently about everything. We believe in creating more unified communities — places where each person regardless of ability or disability, is accepted, respected and welcomed, and where each individual contributes to the strength and vibrancy of the whole.