"Many people confuse us with the Paralympics. I was asked recently whether I was heading over to PyeongChang," he said.

"They're a wonderful organisation, but a different one."

Dr Shriver, the nephew of former US President John F. Kennedy, is visiting Canberra on Sunday as part of a whirlwind visit ahead of the Special Olympics Australia National Games, which will be held in Adelaide in April.

The four-day competition, held every four years, will also function as selection for the World Summer Games being held in Abu Dhabi next year.

While he's only in Australia for a little more than a day, the chairman will be hosting an event at Government House alongside Victorian Governor Linda Dessau to drum up government support for the upcoming event.

"It will be a chance for people to meet our athletes and do some sporting activities with them," he told The Sunday Canberra Times.

"We want for people in Canberra to understand the urgency of the Special Olympics in this day and age. The government has traditionally not been as aware of the work that we do in areas like early childhood and education."

Primarily, the Special Olympics provides a sporting competition for people with intellectual disabilities across a range of sports, including athletics, swimming, basketball and gymnastics.

The organisation started in 1962 with a summer camp held by Dr Shriver's mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, where more than 100 young people took part in various games.

The camp was the inspiration for the first formal games held six years later.

"We started with a couple of hundred athletes and in just two countries. Now we have a couple of million athletes in 172 countries," Dr Shriver said.

The chairman said a main aim of the games was helping to reduce the discrimination and the stigma experienced by many people in the community with an intellectual disability.

"The primary challenge for people with intellectual disabilities is the negative expectations and the negative messaging," he said.

"Our athletes see themselves as gifted and competent and skilled, and the primary effect is to replace the negative self image that is often internalised with a positive one and change societal expectations."

While Dr Shriver is carrying on the work that his mother started in creating the organisation, he said that wasn't because of a sense of duty.

"I grew up with this movement. I'm honoured and proud of my mother and her work, but if I didn't fall in love with the organisation, I wouldn't have done it out of duty," he said.

"I've learned a tremendous amount from our athletes and I very much value what they have taught me."