Sports for Disabled

1. Disability Spor t
Intr oduction
Dr. Saim Ali Soomro.
Deputy Director
NSEC for PHC. Islamabad.

2. Introductions




Ground Rules
About me…
About you…
Favourite film?

3. What is Disability?




Models
What is a model?
The earth is flat!
Medical & Social Models

4. Medical & Social
Models
 Medical Model
 A person is disabled
because they use a
wheelchair and
cannot climb a flight
of steps into a
building.
 Social Model
 A person is disabled
because they use a
wheelchair and a
ramp is not provided
to access the
building.

5. Barriers to
Participation
 National statistics - lowest participation rates
for disabled people
 Taking Part & Active People surveys –
8.8 – 9.5% disabled adults in regular moderate
activity (pop. average 21%)
(Sport England, 2006; DCMS, 2007)
 44% of disabled young people not regularly
physically active (12% non-disabled)
(Sport England, 2001)

6. Barriers to
Participation
 Key barriers to participation identified by
disabled people themselves;
 Adults - Health Problems (74%), Lack of
money (5%), Lack of time (5%) (Sport England, 2002)
 Young People – Disability/Health (58%),
Lack of ‘disabled’ sports facilities (18%),
Lack of adult’s time/supervision (14%)
(Sport England, 2001)

7. Terminology
 Group exercise
 Avoid old fashioned references
 Don’t get ‘hung up’ on being politically
correct…
 No-one gets it right all the time…

8. Stereotypes &
Assumptions
 Myths and fears promoted by media
industries
 Attitudes of local and national media
 Ask the right questions AND listen to the
answers!

9. Benefits of Sport &
Exercise
 Inclusive Fitness Initiative

10. Disability Sport
 History/Overview
 Disability sport as we know it credited to Sir
Ludwig Guttmann who started sport as a rehab
venture at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, post
WWII.
 First international games held in 1948
 First ‘official’ Paralympics in 1952
 First Paralympics held in same city as
Olympics in 1988
 Most sports now compete at national and
international level, some in direct involvement
with non-disabled counterpart organisations.

11. Introduction to
Classification
 Classification is not exclusive to disabled
sport
 Examples: Judo – weight classes,
Fencing – male, female, junior, veterans,
Swimming – by discipline.
 It’s aim in disability sport is to achieve fair
and equitable competition.

12. Classification cont…
 There are two main forms of
classification in disabled sport:
 Medical
 Functional
 Recent developments include
implementing points systems to increase
participation in individual events and
make them more ‘spectator friendly’

13. Classification cont…
 Minimal Disability
 Is an entry level which describes the
minimal level of disability/injury to allow
eligibility to participate in disability sport.

14. Classification cont…





Factors determining classification
1. Trunk function
2. Lower limb function
3. Upper limb function
4. Hand function

15. Classification cont…
 Volume of action- example w/c basketball
 Vertical plane – rotating trunk to left or right
whilst maintaining an upright position
 Forward plane – bending trunk forwards
reaching hands towards the feet & returning to
upright position
 Sideways plane – leaning trunk to left or right
without movement in forward plane & returning
to upright position

16. Classification cont…
Minimal disability – definition (example)
Usually: must meet the following criteria:
A) a wheelchair basketball player is unable to run, pivot
or jump at speed and with the control of an able-bodied
player;
 B) a wheelchair basketball player has a permanent
physical disability in the lower limb/s which can be
objectively verified by an acknowledged medical and/or
paramedical investigation such as measurement, x-ray,
CT scan, MRI scan, etc…
 N.b: degrees of pain are not considered as measurable
and permanent disabilities.




17. Classification cont…
 Wheelchair Basketball Points system
 Each player is awarded a point value
based on classification from 1pt to 4.5pts
with .5pt increments between each class
 Functional classification is polarised to
achieve final classification
 Review process followed/appeal

18. Classification cont…
IPC recognises 6 different disability groups:
1. amputees
2. athletes with Cerebral Palsy (CP)
3. blind or visually impaired athletes
4. spinal cord injured athletes
5. athletes with an intellectual/learning
disability
 6. other athletes (les autres) with a physical
disability who do not fit into the above 5
categories.







19. Ethical Issues
 Minimal disability…? Where do you draw
the line?
 Non disabled competitors in disability
sport…? Inclusion/reverse
discrimination?
 Cheating…?
 Substance use/Boosting
 Do we really need classification?

20. Summary – Q&A
Medical & social models
Barriers to participation
Terminology
Stereotypes
Disability sport – history, classification,
ethics
 Any questions?




