Hypothesis, Part 2

Who:     Having a very specific group of individuals targeted in my hypothesis, makes it difficult to find individuals who should have the unmet need, but for whatever reason do not.

·        I made it a stretch to interview someone who works for the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department.  As they offer activities to all individuals they do not necessarily focus on the portion of the community that has disabilities.  She said the city is committed to serving the autism community and has select adaptive programs, however it is only offered at one facility not at all.  They are constricted by budget and volume of children who sign up to participate in their programming. 

·        Two individuals I interviewed volunteer for a local buddy baseball organization.  They both said they volunteer because someone in their family has disabilities and they want to give back.  They would not have paid much attention if they did not have someone in their family directly affected. 

·        This brings it back to being a community wide problem so I interviewed someone I know who does not have a special needs member of their family.  She said that although she reads articles and seeing news specials supporting the special needs community is growing, in her daily life she does not put much thought into it.  She is sympathetic to the struggles families face but does not have time in her daily routine to be involved.

·        Last, I interviewed another sibling to a special needs child who should be included in the opportunity but falls outside of the need due to the age difference between herself and her brother.  She has moved out of the house and is not affected by the disruption to her schedule.  She attempts to participate in family functions and thinks the solution sounds feasible.  She is trying to start her own career and family and does not know if she would be able to do more than cheer on her sibling.

What: In speaking with the volunteer workers, each one agreed that the need is larger than one organization could support, but wondered how I could draw individuals to what I was offering if it was such a broad spectrum.  With the buddy baseball league it was one activity families signed up to participate in because they like the idea of playing baseball. 

Why:  I believe all of those I interviewed do have a connection to the need.  Although, like no one had commented on my first hypothesis, I believe the reason is because if it does not directly involve them they do not care or want to feel the burden of assisting those in need.  This contributes to the why.  Most people do not want to be bothered by more than what affects them. 

	Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Who:	Siblings who live at home	Siblings who live outside the home
	Volunteers with special needs organizations	Volunteers with other service needs
	Community organizations with adaptive missions	Community organizations targeting majority population
	Regular citizens of extended family with disabilities	Regular citizens with no affiliation to persons with disabilities
What:	The need is To assist families and those with disabilities to enjoy activities either together or individually to live a full life.	To only support the typical community and ignore the needs of those with limitations
Why:	Special needs population is growing and should enjoy activities as well	To not be bothered by others issues and needs