Kennedy Shriver launches merit medal

THE distinguished founder and honorary chairperson of the Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, yesterday said people should never give up on seeking to learn more about her special friends.

Ms Kennedy Shriver was speaking during her visit to University College Dublin for the launch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver medal.

The medal will be awarded annually to a masters student whose thesis is deemed of special merit in advancing knowledge of intellectual difficulties.

Following a visit to the US in 1995 sponsored by the Joseph P Kennedy Jr Foundation, an interdisciplinary centre for disability studies was established in UCD.

Postgraduate courses at degree and diploma levels, funded research, international exchange programmes, peer-reviewed publications and a diverse array of conferences, workshops and public lectures take place at the centre, led by Ireland’s first Professor of Disability Studies, Patricia Noonan Walsh.

Ms Kennedy Shriver said it seemed the best ideas in America are all closely tied to Ireland. The centre at UCD is the first of its kind outside the US.

Ms Kennedy Shriver said it was so important to change the negative attitudes of young people towards people with an intellectual disability.

Afterwards, Ms Kennedy Shriver, watched a basketball match between teams from Australia and the US. She sat beside Anna and Kenneth Allen from Mississippi.

Their son Brian, 36, has been a Special Olympian since at the age of six.

Anna said her son was testimony to the good work achieved by Ms Kennedy Shriver.