JFK Disabilities

"We must promote to the best of our ability and by all possible and appropriate means the mental and physical health of all our citizens."

                                                      President Kennedy, February 5, 1963

The president's sister Rosemary, was born with intellectual disabilities. In 1946, Mrs. Joseph P. Kennedy created the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation to help to prevent and to identifie causes for intellectual disabilities.  Eunice Kennedy Shriver began directing the foundation in 1957 and became a staunch advocate for people with mental retardation and their families. 

President Kennedy and his family forever changed public attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities. Their influence on related policies and programs can still be seen today.

The Special Olympics 

In 1968, Eunice Shriver founded the Special Olympics, an organization dedicated to celebrating and accepting people with intellectual disabilities as athletes. Today, more than 2.5 million children and adults in 180 countries participate in the Special Olympics.