<P> The Paralympic Games is a major international multi-sport event involving athletes with a range of disabilities, including impaired muscle power (e.g. paraplegia and quadriplegia, muscular dystrophy, post-polio syndrome, spina bifida), impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency (e.g. amputation or dysmelia), leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment and intellectual impairment . There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games . All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). </P> <P> The Paralympics has grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948 to become one of the largest international sporting events by the early 21st century . The Paralympics has grown from 400 athletes with a disability from 23 countries in 1960 to thousands of competitors from over 100 countries in the London 2012 Games . Paralympians strive for equal treatment with non-disabled Olympic athletes, but there is a large funding gap between Olympic and Paralympic athletes . </P> <P> The Paralympic Games are organized in parallel with the Olympic Games, while the IOC - recognized Special Olympics World Games include athletes with intellectual disabilities, and the Deaflympics include deaf athletes . </P> <P> Given the wide variety of disabilities that Paralympic athletes have, there are several categories in which the athletes compete . The allowable disabilities are broken down into ten eligible impairment types . The categories are impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment and intellectual impairment . These categories are further broken down into classifications, which vary from sport to sport . </P>

Are the paralympic games the same as the special olympics world games