Aida Mohajeri
Aida worked with Special Olympics International and co-researcher Margaret Turley, a Special Olympics Athlete, to understand the needs of Special Olympics athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Community Engagement Initiative: Aida Mohajeri & Margaret Turley worked together to design and model an inclusive approach to research. “Inclusive Research: Nothing Without Us” is a mini guide on how to approach research with people with disabilities lead by people with disabilities.
Report
Supporting Families of Special Olympics Athletes during COVID-19: An Inclusive Research Project
Read the Easy-to-Read Version of the report written by Aida & Margaret
This study fills a critical need to update the Special Olympics International (SOI) 2013 Family Engagement Strategy by exploring how Special Olympics can support families of Special Olympics athletes and what the expectations of the families are from SOI, given the challenges of the COVID-19. Through an inclusive, mixed methods approach, the authors surveyed 30 people and interviewed three family members in Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Key findings emphasized the desire for social connectedness amongst families: family members placed social connectedness as their most urgent need with an average ranking of 1.96, on a scale of one as the most important and seven as the least important need. The authors recommend prioritizing social connectedness through further funded outreach, expanding inclusive research methodology, conducting family research on a larger scale, expanding intersectional research, and continuing temporal research post COVID-19
Bio
Aida Mohaheri (she/her) holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Arab and Islamic Studies from Villanova University and a Masters in International Education Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). She is a former U.S. Fulbright Research Fellow and HGSE Equity and Inclusion Fellow. Aida is an experienced (dis)ability researcher and advocate, with lived experiences and niche knowledge of policies in the United Arab Emirates, Iran, United States, and Canada. She is passionate about establishing equity for all through policies, programming, and intersectional research.
Keywords
Family Engagement, Intellectual Disability, COVID-19, Social Connectedness, Special Olympics, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, Pennsylvania, United States