Disability in Sport Disability Awareness On Equal Terms

Disability in Sport

Disability Awareness On Equal Terms "Disabled people are tired of being invisible and are declaring their right to an equal chance at life. " -Christopher Reeve • Have you ever wondered what it's like to have a disability? How does a person who can't see read? Can a person with a physical disability participate in sports? If you couldn't hear, how would you talk with your friends? Do people with disabilities get frustrated; have friends, like ice cream? Can you catch a disability? • Individuals with disabilities are real people whose disability is as normal to them as you having brown, blue, or green eyes or red, blond, brown, or black hair. They have feelings. They like some of the same things you do, including hanging out with friends. If you were to make friends with a person with a disability what effect would it have on your life?

Discrimination • Discrimination can include treating the person unfavourably because of their disability, or because of assumptions made about people with that type of disability. Visually impaired athlete Jason Smyth

Common Ways People with a Disability are viewed and treated: Unfortunately, and inaccurately, people with disabilities are often viewed as: • victims, or objects of pity • horrible or grotesque • burdens, either on society or on their families and carers • unable, or assumed to be unable, to do things • having multiple disabilities (such as assuming that a person who uses a wheelchair also has an intellectual disability) • childlike • "special"

Discrimination • because of assumptions made about people with that type of disability • This is known as: STEREOTYPING Handcyclist Mark Rohan

Stereotyping • Is a preconceived or oversimplified generalisation involving negative beliefs about a particular group. • Negative stereotypes are frequently at the base of prejudice. • The danger of stereotyping is that it no longer considers people as individuals, but rather categorises them as members of a group who all think and behave in the same way. • How do we pick up on stereotypes? Rower Sarah Caffrey

Wheel Chair Rugby • The sport's original name was Murder ball; in the United States, it is referred to as quad rugby. • All wheelchair rugby players are quadriplegic, as the rules require that they must have a disability that affects all or a portion of both the upper and lower extremities. • The majority of wheelchair rugby athletes have spinal cord injuries at the level of their cervical vertebrae. • Wheelchair rugby is a mixed sport, with men and women competing on the same teams and is played indoors on a hardwood court.

Paralympic Sports • There are 20 sports in the Paralympic programme for London 2012, breaking down into disciplines and events. Paralympic Archery Paralympic Athletics Paralympic Cycling – Road Paralympic Equestrian Paralympic Judo Paralympic Rowing Paralympic Sailing Paralympic Swimming Paralympic Table Tennis Powerlifting Volleyball - Sitting Wheelchair Basketball Wheelchair Fencing Wheelchair Rugby

Deaflympics The current Summer and Winter Deaflympics programme includes 24 disciplines. • Summer Disciplines: 19 • Athletics • Badminton • Basketball • Beach Volleyball • Bowling • Cycling Road • Football • Judo • Karate • Mountain Bike • Orienteering • Shooting • Swimming • Table Tennis • Taekwondo • Tennis • Volleyball • Wrestling Freestyle • Wrestling Greco-Roman Winter Disciplines: 5 • Alpine Skiing • Cross Country Skiing • Curling • Ice Hockey • Snowboard

Useful websites: www. paralympics. ie/ www. deaflympics. com www. london 2012. com/games/paralympic