2
Wheelchair
Tennis
Blindfolded
Swimming
ATHLETES
WITH
DISABILITIES
In today’s society, sports are associated with exceptional physical abilities. The greatest athletes of our day are put on a playing field far above that of the average person. Therefore, in most people’s minds, it is difficult to reconcile athleticism with physical disability. As a group, we attempted to understand the intersection between sports and disability. We found that mainstream society gets minimal exposure to adaptive sports, and often interprets them as testaments to overcoming hardship rather than demonstration of incredible athletism .
DISABILITY
AT BROWN
Despite the ubiquity of this attitude, we were surprised by how pervasive it was here at Brown. As members of our group went out to organize adaptive sporting events around campus, it became clear that there is a lack of understanding and a lack of exposure to adaptive sports on campus. Athletic coordinators on campus were unprepared to host adaptive sporting events and sporting facilities were not suited for many of these events. Even when talking to peers about the intersection between sports and disability, many people did not know that adaptive sports exist and others expressed harsh criticism of able-bodied individuals participating in adaptive sports.
Rock Climbing