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Susie has Down syndrome. For years, she didn't talk, until she found a sport that made her want to.

What she did to overcome her social anxiety is pretty impressive.

Susie Doyens has Down syndrome, and it left her almost mute due to social pressure and anxiety.

Written notes and communicating through her mother were her ways of "talking" to the world when she was a child.

Fast forward to 2001, when she was asked to be part of the Special Olympics Global Messenger training that teaches public speaking, and its emissaries talk to people — publicly — about those with special needs.


Check out her story:

Discovering Special Olympics changed her life.

It wasn't all that long ago that families who had kids born with Down syndrome were encouraged to take them to institutions, drop them off, and never look back. In fact, Susie's parents, Lynda and Dan, were encouraged to do just that.

In an interview with the Special Olympics, Dan, Susie's dad, remembers: “The pediatrician that told us [that she had Downs syndrome] says, 'Well, maybe you should just drop her off at a home and leave her there.' And we said, 'No, we can't do that.'"

Fortunately for Susie, they were not about to do anything of the sort. Instead, they worked with her year after year, until at age 9, Susie was still not speaking. She was so painfully shy, she'd look at people's shoes rather than in their eyes. "Her head was always down," according to her dad.

She communicated almost exclusively via written words on paper.

But then, she discovered Special Olympics, where she got to play golf with professionals in a program called “Unified Golf."

As her skills grew, so did her desire to communicate with others using her actual voice. She built relationships with other players, and she was highly competitive, seeking a gold medal where she could.

Susie has competed in 10 sports during her nearly three decades in Special Olympics, but golf is the sport she's most passionate about.

Now, she looks people right in the eye — by playing golf in the Special Olympics and speaking to thousands of people through the Global Messenger program.

"Special Olympics makes me feel good about myself. And I love public speaking," says Susie.

"Special Olympics helped me find my voice."

Indeed. And a beautiful voice it is.

What's the Special Olympics all about?

Timothy Shriver, Chairman & CEO of Special Olympics, says that people with intellectual disabilities tend to believe that their opinions are not important and that others can speak for them better. That certainly happened in Susie's case.

The mission statement for the organization lays it all out:

"The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving 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."

More than 4.4 million athletes from over 170 countries participate every year in training and competitions.

And once every two years, the program holds the biggest competition, the Special Olympics World Games. The most recent summer games, held in Los Angeles, ended in early August 2015.

Check them out. And here's a place to read more of Susie's story. For a longer, more detailed video on her parents and her transformation, check this video out.

Planet

Easy (and free!) ways to save the ocean

The ocean is the heart of our planet. It needs our help to be healthy.

Ocean Wise

Volunteers at a local shoreline cleanup

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The ocean covers over 71% of the Earth’s surface and serves as our planet’s heart. Ocean currents circulate vital heat, moisture, and nutrients around the globe to influence and regulate our climate, similar to the human circulatory system. Cool, right?

Our ocean systems provide us with everything from fresh oxygen to fresh food. We need it to survive and thrive—and when the ocean struggles to function healthfully, the whole world is affected.

Pollution, overfishing, and climate change are the three biggest challenges preventing the ocean from doing its job, and it needs our help now more than ever. Humans created the problem; now humans are responsible for solving it.

#BeOceanWise is a global rallying cry to do what you can for the ocean, because we need the ocean and the ocean needs us. If you’re wondering how—or if—you can make a difference, the answer is a resounding YES. There are a myriad of ways you can help, even if you don’t live near a body of water. For example, you can focus on reducing the amount of plastic you purchase for yourself or your family.

Another easy way to help clean up our oceans is to be aware of what’s known as the “dirty dozen.” Every year, scientists release an updated list of the most-found litter scattered along shorelines. The biggest culprit? Single-use beverage and food items such as foam cups, straws, bottle caps, and cigarette butts. If you can’t cut single-use plastic out of your life completely, we understand. Just make sure to correctly recycle plastic when you are finished using it. A staggering 3 million tons of plastic ends up in our oceans annually. Imagine the difference we could make if everyone recycled!

The 2022 "Dirty Dozen" ListOcean Wise

If you live near a shoreline, help clean it up! Organize or join an effort to take action and make a positive impact in your community alongside your friends, family, or colleagues. You can also tag @oceanwise on social if you spot a beach that needs some love. The location will be added to Ocean Wise’s system so you can submit data on the litter found during future Shoreline Cleanups. This data helps Ocean Wise work with businesses and governments to stop plastic pollution at its source. In Canada, Ocean Wise data helped inform a federal ban on unnecessary single-use plastics. Small but important actions like these greatly help reduce the litter that ends up in our ocean.

Ocean Wise, a conservation organization on a mission to restore and protect our oceans, is focused on empowering and educating everyone from individuals to governments on how to protect our waters. They are making conservation happen through five big initiatives: monitoring and protecting whales, fighting climate change and restoring biodiversity, innovating for a plastic-free ocean, protecting and restoring fish stocks, and finally, educating and empowering youth. The non-profit believes that in order to rebuild a resilient and vibrant ocean within the next ten years, everyone needs to take action.

Become an Ocean Wise ally and share your knowledge with others. The more people who know how badly the ocean needs our help, the better! Now is a great time to commit to being a part of something bigger and get our oceans healthy again.

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