Reading List

• Young Athletes Internal Dashboard Welcome to the Special Olympics Young Athletes online internal dashboard. This platform is a place for Regional Staff and Program Staff to connect with each other and with SOI HQ. This is a place for you to access resources, best practices, metrics, and provide feedback and suggestions. All features available on the platform are outlined below.
• Census Special Olympics Census collects valuable information about our athletes, coaches, leaders, volunteers and other programmatic components globally. Census is required to be submitted by every Special Olympics accredited Program on an annual basis. The resources below can be downloaded to assist Programs in completing their annual Census.
  
  
• FUNfitness (Physiotherapy)  FUNfitness is a physiotherapy (physical therapy) screening that examines the flexibility, strength, balance, and aerobic fitness of Special Olympics athletes and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Dysfunction in any of these areas can result in pain, discomfort, and sub-optimal activity performance in sports and everyday life. During these screenings, physiotherapists, students, and other related health professionals, identify areas of concern in the above areas to offer education and expert guidance on suggested follow-up care including exercise recommendations, sport-specific training tips, and when appropriate, referral recommendations.
  
  For further information or general inquiries related to this discipline, please contact us at funfitness@specialolympics.org. SO Program staff and established Clinical Directors are encouraged to submit their questions through our online form available here.
• MedFest (General Medicine) MedFest was created to offer the physical exam that all athletes need prior to participating in Special Olympics sports programming. It is sometimes the first exposure these athletes have to medical care. For some Special Olympics athletes, life-threatening conditions have been identified through MedFest and subsequently treated through referral and connection to community-based care. Led by volunteer physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and medical students, the MedFest screening consists of the following stations: medical history, height and weight, blood pressure, cardiology test, musculoskeletal test, orthopedic tests, abdominal evaluation, and a check out station.
  
  For further information or general inquiries related to this discipline, please contact us at medfest@specialolympics.org. SO Program staff and established Clinical Directors are encouraged to submit their questions through our online form available here.