Let the games begin!

By Evan Dawson,

Published January 21, 2026 at 5:37 PM EST

Six people stand against a wall in a radio talk studio: a man far left has short grey hair and is wearing glasses, an orange fleece, white shirt and beige pants; a woman to his right has short brown hair and is wearing glasses, a grey sweatshirt and a medal on a ribbon around her neck; a man to her right has short dark hair and is wearing glasses and a navy hooded sweatshirt with white lettering; a woman to his right is wearing a grey headscarf, black jacket and black pants; a young woman near right has long blonde hair and is wearing a beige turtleneck and jeans; a woman far right has a brown ponytail and is wearing a black fleece, beige pants and sneakers.

1 of 9 — Josh Meltzer, Cori Piels, Evan Dawson, Furqan Alwaely, Natasha Kaiser and Jess Dauvergne with host Evan Dawson on "Connections"

Josh Meltzer, Cori Piels, Evan Dawson, Furqan Alwaely, Natasha Kaiser and Jess Dauvergne with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Wednesday, January 21, 2026

George Yeadon / WXXI News

2 of 9 — Volunteers help an athlete stretch

Patrick Kennedy gets his hip flexibility tested by Ryan Olsen, left, Erin Strollo, middle, and Zack Fink, right,during the healthy athlete program.

Dillon Berrus / RIT

A young woman wearing a bright yellow t-shirt measures the back of a man wearing a long-sleeved grey t-shirt.

3 of 9 — A volunteer helps measure an athlete

A volunteer helps measure an athlete

RIT

A man wearing a blue sweater holds an eye device up to the eye of an athlete wearing a grey t-shirt.

4 of 9 — An athlete looks through an eye device

An athlete looks through an eye device

RIT

A young man wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt stands next to a measuring stick being held by a young woman.

5 of 9 — A volunteer helps measure the height of a young athlete

A volunteer helps measure the height of a young athlete

RIT

A young man wearing a red hooded sweatshirt sits at a table covered in many pairs of eyeglasses while a young woman in a blue t-shirt looks through some paperwork.

6 of 9 — A young man gets fitted for glasses

A young man gets fitted for eyeglasses

RIT

Two photographers stand on a mountain and take photos of a young athlete holding a snowboard.

7 of 9 — Two photographers take pictures of a snowboarder

Two photographers take pictures of an athlete holding a snowboard

Ethan Bissinger / RIT

8 of 9 — SONY_FigureSkating_WD_20250222_0063.JPG

Travis LaCoss takes a photo of Albert Alberti during the Figure Skating competition at Tim Horton’s Iceplex in Rochester, N.Y., on Feb. 22, 2025. (Photo by Will D’Antonio)

Will D’Antonio / RIT

9 of 9 — Two photographers take photos of a skier at Swain Mountain

Two photographers take photos of a skier at Swain Mountain

Campbell Mulligan / RIT

The Special Olympics New York winter games are returning to Rochester next month, and so is a local photojournalism collaboration.

RIT students are teaming up with athletes and organizers — and as we learn this hour, they are covering more than just sports.

Accessible health care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is one of the nonprofit's priorities.

Its Healthy Athletes event at the games helps competitors access routine screenings and other resources, while also providing an opportunity for health care professionals to learn best practices for caring for patients in the IDD community.

We explore it all with our guests:

Cori Piels, Special Olympics athlete and health messenger
Jess Dauvergne, director of health programs for Unified Sports at Special Olympics New York
Furqan Alwaely, B.D.S., dental provider and faculty member at the Eastman Institute for Oral Health
Josh Meltzer, associate professor in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences at RIT
Natasha Kaiser, photojournalism major at RIT and former intern for WXXI News

To register as a Special Olympics volunteer, click here.

This story is reported from WXXI's Inclusion Desk.