Loretta Claiborne
Crystal Cobb Ross
PSY/300
April 16, 2012
Dr. Liz West

Loretta Claiborne

"Find an opportunity and seize it. Be the best you can be, and never let anyone doubt you”

“Loretta Claiborne has run 26 marathons, lobbied Congress, won the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, and is a fourth degree black belt in karate” (McCallum, 2008) and motivational speaker; while this may sound like any average athlete, Loretta is anything but average. Loretta Claiborne was born with a severe case of mental retardation or for better terms intellectual disability. Intellectual disability is “a condition that includes below-average general intellectual function and a lack of the skills necessary for daily living” (A.D.A.M., 2011). Loretta was born legally blind in one eye and did not speak or walk until she reached the age of four. Although I could not find much in writing on her background, I learned from the movie of her life entitled The Loretta Claiborne Story, that she was able to overcome here adversity with the love and support of family and through hard work and determination of not wanting to be “different”.
Loretta was a bit of a handle full in school she was often very angry. She would often get into fights with her fellow classmates who relentlessly taunted and teased her. One day her teachers let her out of class so that she would not meet up with her bullies and she told Loretta to “runaway and run fast” and Loretta did just that. As result Loretta realized her love for running. However, once in high school Loretta once again found herself being pushed around and once again Loretta’s angry side emerged. She beat one of her classmates and was expelled from school. Upon being expelled she was then placed at a workshop for the mentally challenged but was fired soon for fighting a fellow co-worker. As a result of this Loretta was placed with a social worker by the name of Janet McFarland who introduced her to the Special Olympics.
Loretta’s success and determination has been shaped and molded by many people and factors in her life. Much of this credit belongs to her family and community, Janet McFarland, Eunice Kennedy (founder of the Special Olympics), and her own goals of becoming a world class runner. The first person responsible for her shaping and molding was her mother Rita Claiborne. Rita was a no-nonsense mother and she did not treat Loretta any different the other children. She taught her the importance of not letting anyone make her feel as if she was different. She never let her feel sorry for herself. With added approval encouragement from those mentioned above, Loretta became fearless; embracing her disability and not letting it define who she is.
Having a good support team such as the one Loretta has been very influential in her developmental growth. If Loretta’s mother would have never realized the first time she heard her daughter that her daughter was capable of learning, she would have given her up as a ward of the state. Her teacher taught her that instead of fighting and getting into trouble that I tis okay to just “runaway”. Her community helped by giving her the confidence to go out with her head held high and Special Olympics gave her a platform to shine with the backing and support of founder Eunice Shriver.
An individual is considered to have mental retardation based on the following three criteria: intellectual functioning level (IQ) is below 70-75; significant limitations exist in two or more adaptive skill areas; and the condition is present from childhood (defined as age 18 or less) (AAMR, 1992). Loretta far exceeded the way people thought of her to be and who she did this is best explained by Alfred Adler’s theory that there is a motivating force behind all of our experiences and behavior that keeps us “striving for perfection”. In Loretta’s case, the motivating force behind her was the will to want to be looked at as equal, to be looked at as somebody important, and to belong to something special.
Another theory that could be applied to Loretta’s personality is that of Carl Rogers. Rogers’ entire theory is “built on a single ‘force of life’ he calls the actualizing tendency. It can be defined as the built-in motivation present in every life-form to develop its potentials to the fullest extent possible. We’re not just talking about survival: Rogers believes that all creatures strive to make the very best of their existence” (Boeree, 2006)
According to both Adler’s and Roger’s theories there is some type of force or drive responsible for Loretta’s ability to exceed beyond normal measure for an individual with intellectual disability. The difference in the two is that in Adler’s theory the force can come from external whereas Roger’s theory believes it comes from within. They are both however right when it comes to describing how Loretta was able to beat all obstacles put in her way.
Loretta Claiborne is an exceptional woman, athlete, and speaker; who had the will to “be somebody” and never give up on her hopes and dreams. Loretta’s story is one that makes you question whether we will be able to real understand the true meaning of “never judge a book by its cover” or I.Q. scores. If Loretta did not have a mother pushing her, family and the community backing her, her love for running, and eventually the Special Olympics, she may not have become the star she is today. Luckily times have changed and people like Loretta are no longer looked as the people know one wants to talk about.

References
A.D.A.M. (2011). Mental Retardation. New York Times, n.d.

Boeree, G. (2006). Personailty Theory. Retrieved April 19, 2012, from Personality Theory: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/perscontents.html

McCallum, J. (2008). An Athelet's Tale. Sports Illustrated, 1.