BAJAN SUN MAGAZINE
OCT 2014
Disability and Sports
T
he
term
"disability" summarizes a great number
of different functional
limitations, be it physical, intellectual or sensory impairment, medical
conditions or mental illness. Such conditions or
illnesses may be permanent or transitory in naJudy Beckles
ture. “Disability” includes
any restriction or lack of
ability to perform an activity in the manner or within
the range considered normal for a human being.
Acquiring a disability or impairment is often thought
of as a random misfortune. Many persons believe that
since they were not born disabled, they could never
become disabled.
The reality is however that every time we step out onto
the streets, go to work, shop in the mall, or engage in
other day to day practices, there is the possibility of
becoming disabled.
This reality also sets the tone for persons with disabilities, engaging in activities at which the ‘normal’ person participates, e.g. sports, which boost their social
life as well as their confidence. Opportunities are afforded via Sporting Organisations such as Special
Olympics or the Paralympics.
By Judy Beckles
Special Olympics believes deeply in the power of
sports to help all who participate to fulfill their potential and does not exclude any athlete based upon qualifying scores, but rather divides the athletes based on
those scores for fair competition against others of like
ability. For Special Olympics athletes’ excellence is
personal achievement, a reflection of reaching one's
maximum potential - a goal to which everyone can aspire.
Paralympics welcomes athletes from six main disability categories: amputee, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, visually impaired, spinal injuries and Les Autres (French for "the others", a category that includes
conditions that do not fall into the categories mentioned before). To participate in the Paralympic
Games, athletes have to fulfill certain criteria and meet
certain qualifying standards in order to be eligible.
These criteria and standards are sports-specific and are
determined by the IPC Sports Chairpersons, the Sports
Technical Delegates and the relevant International
sports organizations. The Paralympics are about elite
performance sport, where athletes go through a stringent qualification process so that the best, or highest
qualified based on performance, can compete at the
Games.
Special Olympics welcomes all athletes with intellectual disabilities, (ages 8 and older) of all ability levels,
to train and compete in 30 Olympic-type sports. To be
eligible to participate in Special Olympics, athletes
must have an intellectual disability; a cognitive delay,
or a development disability, that is, functional limitations in both general learning and adaptive skill s.
(They may also have a physical disability.)
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