Sport for persons with a disability

Sport has shown to offer many positive benefits of a social, psychological and physiological nature for people with disabilities.

OVERVIEW

The World Bank estimates that 600 million people or 10% of the world’s total population live with a disability, with at least 500 million in the developing world. The numbers increase as a result of factors such as violent conflicts, a high incidence of untreated diseases and a lack of education. Sport has shown to offer many positive benefits of a social, psychological and physiological nature for persons with a disability. Sport has the potential to play a key role in enabling those living with a disability to do three things: a) maintain a healthy lifestyle and improve physical and mental health; b) provide a space for socialisation with other individuals; and c) provide a means for interaction between participants with or without a disability so as to lead to greater understanding and sensitivity about one another and to combat social exclusion.

MAJOR EVENTS

18th & 19th century: sports activities identified as instrumental for the re-education and rehabilitation of persons with a disability.

1922: The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (CISS) founded in Berlin. Deaflympics held periodically every four years thereafter.

Post-World War II: sport for persons with a disability was introduced to assist the medical and psychological needs of injured ex-servicemen and women, and civilians.

28th July 1948: first competition for wheelchair athletes organised during the Opening Ceremony of the 1948 Olympic Games in London.

1960: first Paralympic Games were held directly following the Olympic Games in Rome, Italy. The event follows the format of the Olympic Games and is held every four years.

1976: first Paralympic Winter Games held.

1978, 1980: other disability-oriented international organisations namely, CP-ISRA and IBSA created.

1982: International Co-ordinating Committee Sports for the Disabled in the World (ICC) created which comprised CP-ISRA, IBSA, ISMGF and ISOD.

1986: CISS and INAS-FMH joined but the deaf were not represented. This finally led to the creation of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)

CURRENT CONCERNS

Classification is simply a structure for competition. Not unlike wrestling, boxing and weightlifting, where athletes are categorized by weight classes, athletes with a disability are categorized in classes defined by the degree of function. Traditionally, there are athletes who belong to six different disability groups in the Paralympic Movement: cerebral palsy; spinal injuries; amputees; visually Impaired; intellectual disability; "Les Autres" (includes all athletes with a mobility disability not included in the above groups).

Classes are determined by a variety of processes that may include a physical and technical assessment and observation in and out of competition. The classes are defined by each sport and form part of the sport rules. Classification is an ongoing process. When an athlete starts competing, they are allocated a class that may be reviewed throughout the athlete's career. Sports certify individuals to conduct the process of classification. These officials are known as classifiers. Since the 1960s, the development of sport for athletes with a disability has produced the development of classification systems; and this continues to evolve to the present day.

Doping control is an emerging area of concern for athletes with a disability as it is in able-bodied sport. As the Paralympic Games continue to grow and gain in prestige, the temptation to enhance performance through the use of prohibited substances may well increase. It is the objective of the IPC that national programmes integrate the national testing of athletes with disabilities.

In developing countries, a main obstacle to demonstrating that sports can be used as a rehabilitative tool for people with a disability is that simply fewer people with a disability take part in both recreational and competitive sports. Furthermore, poor performance in international events discourages further international participation. There is also the lack of participation of women and children with a disability in sports at all levels including grassroots, national and international levels. This also poses a major obstacle for people from developing countries living with a disability to participate in international sporting events. This is mainly due to a lack of awareness and advocacy in ensuring that people with a disability in developing countries can participate in major sporting events. Most children living with a disability have less access to playgrounds and areas in which they can play and move around. There is also a dearth of specialised equipment and trained staff for people with a disability to become involved in sports activities and to improve their skills. Finally, the classification system for participation in Paralympic Sport competitions is based on concepts of disability predominant in the developed world. This often prevents individuals from developing countries from forming competitive teams for international competitions.