Parent and Athlete Perceptions of Special Olympics Participation: Utility and Danger of Proxy Responding Laraine Masters Glidden, Katharine T. Bamberger, Angela R. Draheim, and Joanne Kersh Abstract Participation in athletics has benefits for persons with intellectual disabilities and their parents. Our purposes here were to confirm these benefits and to determine whether reports from athletes and parents were comparable (i.e., to test the validity of proxy responding). We conducted interviews with 34 Special Olympics sailing/kayaking athletes and their parents. Interviews took place at a regional Special Olympics competition and 12 months later by telephone. Findings suggest that Special Olympics participation has a positive impact on parents and athletes. However, relative to athletes, parents overstated the benefit, indicating that parental proxy responding should not be routinely used. DOI: 10.1352/1934-9556-49.1.37 The value of sports participation for children and adults with intellectual and other developmen- tal disabilities has been demonstrated empirically using qualitative (Farrell, Crocker, McDonough, & Sedgwick, 2004; Goodwin, Fitzpatrick, Thurmeier, & Hall, 2006) and quantitative (Dykens & Cohen, 1996; Gibbons & Bushakra, 1989; Wright & Cowden, 1986) techniques. Researchers have identified both physical and psychosocial benefits for athletes (Mactavish & Schleien, 2004; Weiss, Diamond, Demark, & Lovald, 2003) and for their parents and families (Goodwin et al., 2006; Klein, Gilman, & Zigler, 1993; Weiss, 2008; Weiss & Diamond, 2005). For example, for athletes, research has demonstrated improvements in various types of physical fitness and sports skills (Balic, Mateos, & Blasco, 2000; Castagno, 2001) as well as self- concept and self-esteem (Gibbons & Bushakra, 1989; Weiss et al., 2003). For parents with or without children who have intellectual and devel- opmental disabilities, there is evidence of greater cohesion and adaptability in families who engage together in more leisure activity (Dodd, Zabriskie, Widmer, & Eggett, 2009). Several studies have also documented parental benefits, such as expanded social networks for parents and pride in children’s accomplishments (Kersh & Siperstein, 2008; Weiss, 2008; Wiersma & Fifer, 2008). The methods employed in the research cited have varied in many aspects, including who has been the primary informant providing the data. Although some researchers have focused exclusive- ly on athlete participants (Dykens & Cohen, 1996; Gibbons & Bushakra, 1989), others have relied on parents to respond about their sons and daughters (Kersh & Siperstein, 2008; Klein et al., 1993; Megginson, Nakamura, & Furst, 1997). This latter technique of proxy responding raises the issue of response validity (e.g., Perry & Felce, 2002). Cummins (2002), in a thorough review of the research regarding proxy responding, concluded that some measures, especially those that require knowledge of another person’s internal state (e.g., subjective well-being) should not be obtained by proxy. Subsequent research has supported the Cum- mins (2002) conclusion. For example, Weiss and colleagues (2003) reported athlete, mother, and father ratings of general self-worth, physical com- petence, and social acceptance of adult athletes. For all three measures, mother and father ratings were similar to each other and lower than the athlete ratings in every instance, with five of the six comparisons statistically different. The remaining comparison was of borderline significance. How- ever, Weiss et al.’s comparisons were not always INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES VOLUME 49, NUMBER 1: 37–45 | FEBRUARY 2011 ’American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 37