The Palgrave Handbook of Disability Sport in Europe


Book Description

This handbook explores the various ways in which disability sport is governed and organised across Europe, as well as examining the extent to which persons with a disability participate in sport at the grassroots level. Based upon a solid theoretical framework and up-to-date data, the 19 country-specific chapters in this handbook give a comparative overview of the structuring, steering and supporting elements of disability sport policy and sport participation levels amongst persons with a disability, as well as the extent to which countries adopt policies to promote inclusion in sport in this population. A multitude of authors also identify the various methods and challenges in collecting sport participation data with regard to persons with a disability. This handbook will be a valuable resource for academic study across a range of sport and disability related programs, as well as a point of reference for researchers and policymakers working in this area.




Being Disabled, Becoming a Champion


Book Description

Being Disabled, Becoming a Champion is an accessible presentation of current European research on the most recent evolutions in sports for people with disabilities, demonstrating knowledge developed from the field of sports practices of people with disabilities. It covers three interrelated themes. First, it covers the different facets of the history of sports organizations set up during the 1950s for athletes with motor or intellectual impairments. The second part focuses on the athletes themselves. Voices are given to the top-level athletes in adapted sports: people with intellectual impairment; the pioneers of wheelchair racing who invented a new discipline, off-road wheelchair racing; and a former Paralympic athlete who has become a researcher and a defender of specific sports practices. Finally, the third part interrogates the way support for disabled people can modify the existing definitions and conceptions of the body, of disability, of what is human, and of sports performance. This is an ideal text for students and researchers studying and working in the areas of Disability Studies, Sport Sciences and Paralympic Studies. This book was originally published as a special issue of Sport in Society.




Sport et Handicap en Europe/Sport and Disability in Europe


Book Description

56% des citoyens européens en situation de handicap déclarent ne pratiquer aucune activité physique régulière. Une situation paradoxale au regard des nombreuses études démontrant que le sport est l'un des leviers les plus efficaces pour favoriser l'inclusion des personnes en situation de handicap. L'un des défis porte sur la formation du personnel encadrant. Une adaptation des savoirs techniques et pédagogiques aux pratiques et aux publics handicapés semble nécessaire. C'est ce constat qui a conduit le think tank Sport et Citoyenneté à réunir un groupe de travail européen sur cette question. Cet ouvrage est le résultat de ces trois années d'échanges. Il fournit plusieurs pistes de réflexion sur le développement, avec une priorité forte: le développement d'une base légale pour l'intégration de cours spécifiques sur la façon d'appréhender le handicap dans les cursus de formation aux métiers du sport. 56% of European citizens with a disability say that they never do any regular physical activity. This is a paradox in view of the many studies showing that sport is one of the most effective ways of encouraging inclusion. One of the challenges concerns the training of sports and physical activity instructors and coaches.Technical and teaching knowledge need to be adapted to take account of disabled sport practice and persons with a disability. This observation led the Sport and Citizenship think tank to bring together a European work group on this subject. This work is the result of three years of discussions. It provides various points for consideration on the development of an appropriate training course which will help support and integrate persons with a disability in the best possible way.




Sport and Disability


Book Description

Inclusion is primarily discussed in education. With the increasing number of member states of the United Nations ratifying the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, academics have vividly discussed inclusion in the context of other areas of life, such as the community at large, as ‘social inclusion’ in the context of work and employment, and with regard to the aspects addressed by Article 30.5 of the Convention, namely cultural life, recreation, leisure, and sport. This volume is organized around the topic inclusion in sport and has a particular focus on the participation of people with disabilities in sport. Typical barriers for people with disabilities to participate in sport include lack of awareness on the part of people without disabilities as to how to involve them in teams adequately; lack of opportunities and programmes for training and competition; too few accessible facilities due to physical barriers; and limited information on and access to resources. The chapters attribute central importance to the processes and mechanisms of inclusion that operate within sporting environments and to the question of either what happens or could happen to persons with disabilities who enter the playing field. The chapters were originally published in a special issue of Sport in Society.




Disability Sport


Book Description

"With its primary focus on adult athletes in competitions, Disability Sport, Second Edition, contains in-depth coverage of essential issues, including the historical context of disability and sport; the organizations, competitions, and sport opportunities for athletes with disabilities; the international perspective; current challenges and controversies in disability sport; and the coaching and training of athletes with disabilities including sports medicine issues, activity modifications, equipment uses, and even management for both adults and children" --




The Palgrave Handbook of Disability Sport in Europe


Book Description

This handbook explores the various ways in which disability sport is governed and organised across Europe, as well as examining the extent to which persons with a disability participate in sport at the grassroots level. Based upon a solid theoretical framework and up-to-date data, the 19 country-specific chapters in this handbook give a comparative overview of the structuring, steering and supporting elements of disability sport policy and sport participation levels amongst persons with a disability, as well as the extent to which countries adopt policies to promote inclusion in sport in this population. A multitude of authors also identify the various methods and challenges in collecting sport participation data with regard to persons with a disability. This handbook will be a valuable resource for academic study across a range of sport and disability related programs, as well as a point of reference for researchers and policymakers working in this area.




Disability Sport in Europe


Book Description

This handbook sends out a strong message: the aim is to improve the situation of disabled people by identifying and analysing good practices that facilitate their access to sporting activities.







Disability in the Global Sport Arena


Book Description

Sport is often at the centre of battles for rights to inclusion linked to class, race and gender, and this book explores struggles centred on disability in different cultural settings in Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It challenges oversights and assumptions about the ‘normal’ body, and describes how individual and organizational transformations can occur through sport. The abilities of a person are recognised and placed centre stage - instead of the individual being forgotten, excluded, or placed at the margins simply because they have a disability. National, regional and global change is part of the shift to the rights based approach reflected in the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Making sport inclusive affects the accessibility of facilities, funding, the media, policies, programs, organisations, sponsors and spectators, and at the same time changes the cultural values of the wider society. It also raises issues about competition access and eligibility for ‘different’ and technologically enhanced ‘cyborg’ bodies, and for those most socially disadvantaged. Addressing these questions which ultimately touch on the real meaning of sport can lead to profound changes in people’s attitudes, and how sport is organized locally and globally. Growth in the influential global organisations of the Paralympic Games, Special Olympics and Deaflympics is examined, as is the approach to disability in sport in both advantaged and resource poor countries. The embodied lives of persons with disabilities are explored utilizing new theoretical models, perspectives and approaches. This book was previously published as a special issue of Sport in Society.




Disability and Youth Sport


Book Description

Disability and Youth Sport further challenges thinking and stimulates debate around issues such as: inclusion policy towards physical education and youth sport, researching disability and youth sport, and constructions of disability through youth sport. Drawing on a broad range of literature, a socially critical dialogue is developed where the voices of young disabled people are central.