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Many adults with disabilities have few chances to travel. A group of them from Colorado went 5,000 miles for the Special Olympics.
BY ERICA BREUNLIN THE COLORADO SUN
Growing up in a world that often sees di erences as de ciencies, Shannon Brennan long ago learned to question the things that set her apart from others rather than embrace them.
For Brennan, 37, those di erences play out in the way she learns. e two halves of her brain don’t always communicate with each other, she said, so she sometimes struggles to understand speech.
Brennan was diagnosed with a genetic condition known as Fragile X syndrome at age 12, and is sometimes anxious and can quickly become overstimulated in large crowds or when bombarded by loud noises.
But last week, when Brennan found herself more than 5,000 miles away from her home in Aurora meeting people who navigate the world with their own set of special needs, she began to look at her di erences, well, di erently. “I just have challenges, but (my body) ain’t broken,” she said. “It’s ne. It just works in a di erent way. Just because it works di erently than yours doesn’t mean it’s broken or damaged or anything.”
Brennan set o on a 10-day trip with e Wayfaring Band earlier this month, Berlin-bound to vol-
