Sport and Disability

Disability is one of the most important issues in society because of the many fallacies that have been conjured up by people who have not been exposed to individuals with certain disabilities. This stigma has been incorporated into the notion that people with disabilities are “useless”. People with disabilities do not need to have a physical problem, many have a certain mental state that is not parallel to a fully cognitive person. These disabilities range from extreme physical handicaps to mental issues to a depressive state of mind. All of these fall under the umbrella of the term “disability”. Such biases and prejudices contributed to the discrimination of people with disabilities, but that has been eradicated by the many laws or acts that

Looking back in the past, there have been many features, and true definitions of the word disability. In the 1970s a group called the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation defined disability as the disadvantage or restriction of activity cased by social organizations. U.S disability activists made efforts during the 1970s to form different alliances with the disability community, that protested for the inclusion of disability discrimination under the Rehabilitation act. Thereafter there was a medial model at looking at disability, that views disability as an individual shortfall. In

According to Disabled Spots USA, “National Handicapped Sports and Recreation Association renamed Disabled Sports USA in 1994. It has 91 chapters and 36 states in the United States. It gives sports and recreation programs not only the military people who get serious physical disabling because of their mission, but also people who have disability.” There are 303 million people, who have either mental disabilities or physical disabilities, living in the United States. “Disabled Sports USA provided sports and recreation programs to over 60,000 youth and adults who have some disabilities now according to Australian Paralympic Committee. ” Disabled people, who do some physical activity, are possible to spend happy life compare with disabled people, who did not do any activities. According to Disabled USA’ survey said, “The survey found that DSUSA Chapter Participants (CP) are twice as likely to be employed as the general population of adults with disabilities (68% vs. 33%). ”

A disability is a condition of impairment--a physical or mental condition--that limits a person’s activities or functioning. Handicap is used when legally specifying life processes or social activities that adversely affect a person’s functioning. A handicap is much more limiting than a disability.

In ninth grade, my mother suggested that I volunteer with peers at my high school who are special needs. She thought it would be good for me to meet other people my age who have their unique struggles in school, much like myself. I protested originally, but little did I know I would love volunteering with my peers, regardless of their disability. During this time, I signed up to volunteer with a local organization called Buddy Ball. At Buddy Ball, I had the opportunity to teach children with disabilities ages five through twenty-one baseball. When I volunteered with my peers, I mainly saw high schoolers with severe autism, intellectual disabilities, and emotional disturbances, whereas with Buddy Ball most of the participants had severe autism, intellectual disability, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, epilepsy, or a multiple of disabilities. Both of these experiences allowed me to gain knowledge of a variety of special

Abstract: The Special Olympics not only give special athletes athletic skills, they offer more opportunity, encouragement, and dexterity to survive in society than the public school system alone. To understand the differences and similarities between handicapped athletes and their non-handicap peers is the first step in creating a program that best meets the child's needs. There were no community programs that catered to the mentally and physically challenged, so Eunice Kennedy-Shriver created "special games" in her back yard for her handicapped child. Shriver established the Special Olympics in 1968. Today there are more than one million special athletes competing in 140 countries. There are some problems with relying on the

As a human with no physical or learning disabilities, the culture and lifestyle of those with disabilities is still new to me. After watching Murderball, a documentary that focuses on the U.S. quadriplegic rugby team, I was happy to find out that there are still many opportunities for disabled individuals to participate in sports. Through dedication and training, it seemed that anything was possible for these athletes. Unfortunately, it appears that those with mental/learning disabilities are not presented with as equal opportunities for success in sports. Lauren McKeon’s “Why Won’t You Let Me Play?” focuses on the discrimination that takes place within the Special Olympics. After looking at the Paralympics and Special Olympics through the lenses of Murderball and “Why Won’t You Let Me Play”, it has become clear that people with disabilities do not have equal opportunities in sports, but this issue is not only prevalent in sports. Special Olympic athletes seem to face far greater exclusion compared to Paralympic athletes in athletics, daily life, and American culture.

They have so many abilities and it make me sad that people just see them for the disability when there are so many parts to them just like us. One thing does not define a person. I told Sara when we went to watch the basketball tournament that I love people with disabilities and can spend all day with them and not get easily annoyed. I have had quite a bit previous experience with individuals with disabilities. I love to work with them, yes it can be hard, but the hard times are worth it when you see them get one step closer to their goal. All the hard times, frustration, and headache is worth it to see their reaction and joy once they overcome a step.

Imagine, never having the ability to stand up. Never feeling your legs. Never being able to run around like a normal kid, or playing a fun sport using your legs. But stuck in a boring wheelchair for you whole life. This is a day in the life of somebody with spina bifida. Even though many people have to deal with these and many more struggles of spina bifida daily, that doesn’t stop them, and will not stop them from being successful. In this paper you will learn about what spina bifida is, how you can avoid it, and if you can still participate in athletic sports with the disability.

I chose Special Olympics as my nonprofit organization because I think more people need to know more about it. The Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to 5.7 million athletes and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Olympics competitions are held every day, all around the world—including local, national and regional competitions, adding up to more than 100,000 events a year. There are concern about children with intellectual disabilities having very little opportunity to participate in athletic events. The history of the Special Olympics started in 1969. It was a backyard summer camp when children could

Disability sports, also known as adaptive sports or parasports, are sports that are strictly for those with disabilities, whether it be physical or mental. These sports were originally used as a means to rehabilitate veterans (Disabled Sports USA); the organization in particular that I am going to focus on is the Lakeshore Foundation.

Sports for the physically disabled moved on at a great pace from there, to where we now see Paralympians compete every four years at incredible standards in their own games following each Olympics. But it was not until 1968 that a similar association was set up for people with mental disabilities. This is when Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded Special Olympics International (SOI), which now has branches in over 130 countries and holds summer and winter games every four years.

1. My associations with the word, “disability,” has always revolved around the idea of a person who has physical or mental dysfunction that may prevent them from in engaging in various physical or mental activities. Therefore, I never imagined that a person who is physically disabled would still be able to be athletic. Also, I tend to associate the term, “athlete,” with an individual who is physically capable of engaging in a sport. These associations were formed from my own lack of interactions and experiences with those who are disabled, yet still manage to be athletic. Aside from my own preconceived notions, my generalized prejudices derived from seeing how those within my family were unable to play athletic sports because of their disability. The portrayal of individuals with a disability lacking a wide range of physical movement has also reinforced my

Which is why we have the world cup, because during that time everyone just enjoys the game. It goes the same for people who have disabilities. Just because you may not be the same as everyone else, you should have the same options, and I feel like soccer is a great way to show this. If you speak a different language, who cares? You don’t need to speak the same language as everyone else to play a sport. when trying to teach someone a sport, you don’t have to just speak to them, use examples, physically show them the steps. Same with people who have disabilities, sure there’s cases where it’s very severe and they may not be able to play the sport but if they love it you can include them in other ways like helping coach or just letting them sit with the team.

“For purposes of nondiscrimination laws (e.g. the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Section 188 of the Workforce Investment Act), a person with a disability is generally defined as someone who (1) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more "major life activities," (2) has a record of such an impairment, or (3) is regarded as having such an