Meet Grayson
Growing up in Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, Grayson’s family moved to Yellowknife around six years ago, which is also the time he started participating in Special Olympics. Other than athletics, Grayson also speed skates and plays 5-pin bowling with Special Olympics programs in Yellowknife.
Because some Canadian provinces and territories have fairly small populations spread across huge distances, many Special Olympics “Provincial Games” include athletes from outside the province, so they have somewhere to compete and have a shot at going to the Nationals. Grayson was one of four athletes from the Northwest Territories who went to the 2025 Special Olympics Alberta Provincial Games, and he competed in Track and Field.
Grayson pushed himself incredibly hard during those Games in Alberta, to the point that he finished the 100m barefoot after losing a shoe.
“I knew you were going to ask about that!” Grayson exclaimed when the race was brought up in his interview.
“I was kind of embarrassed after,” Grayson chuckled, “I thought I was gonna win that one and then it flew right off.”
Kelley responded to her son, saying, “you didn’t stop. You were focused on getting to the finish line.”
“And if the other shoe came off,” Grayson added, “we would have had big problems!”
Even though he came in last place during the one-shoed 100m sprint, his performance still showed a level of determination that earned him a bronze medal in the 400m race, a silver medal in shotput, and a spot at the 2026 National Games!
“One thing about Grayson,” Kelley said, “is if he’s challenged, he always rises to that challenge. Whenever he was told he couldn’t do something when he was little, he persevered and did it anyway.”
Currently in his last year of high school, Grayson plans on moving to Olds, Alberta to attend College in August. It is a big step for him to live away from his parents, but the Klein family has been working to make it possible. He is taking on more tasks at his home, and while Grayson cannot cook by himself, he chose a college dorm that has a meal plan. Kelley said that Ms. Olford—Grayson’s support teacher in high school—made a trip down to Olds College to scope the place out, and make sure he is ready to start studying there.
The course is an 11-month Transitional Employment Program, which is made specifically for people with developmental disabilities to teach them how to navigate the workplace, on top of life skills like personal budgeting. Much of the program involves hands-on job experience, and Grayson said he hopes to work on big vehicles like airplanes or—like his other passion—firetrucks.
Grayson also has a paid job with Lakeshore Co-Op, as a grocery clerk who stocks shelves and “faces” the products, which means placing items so they are the most presentable. He started working for them through Inclusion NWT, who Lakeshore Co-Op partners with to employ people with disabilities.
Open about his disability, Grayson has a rare, unnamed condition caused by a deletion and an addition of his 14th chromosome.
“I can’t tie my own shoes.” Grayson said, before turning to Kelley, “Oh mom, you know my hockey pants? I put a knot in them for the first time.”
Grayson is also legally registered as Metis and a Gwich’in beneficiary, which refers to Indigenous Canadians who are of mixed race, often with European ancestry. His mother Kelley identifies as a white Caucasian, and his father has full status under the Canadian Indian Act, as a member of the Gwich’in people. In high school, Grayson took a course in the local T’licho language, and also studied French.
“I also have my full driver’s license,” he said happily, while joking, “so if you come up here stay off the roads!"