Being Disabled, Becoming a Champion

<p>Sports coaches apply their skills in a wider variety of contexts, and with a more diverse range of athletes and participants, than ever before. This book introduces the professional competencies and knowledge needed to build successful working relationships across the different communities and groups with which coaches operate.</p>

<p>This is the first book to offer an in-depth review of research pertaining to individuals with visual impairments across the full span of movement-related disciplines, from biomechanics and motor learning to physical education and Paralympic sport.</p>

Jackson-Brown, Carolyn

Jackson-Brown, Carolyn

<p><em>Inclusion</em> 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 <i>inclusion</i> in sport and has a particular focus on the <i>participation of people with disabilities</i> 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&#x3b; lack of opportunities and programmes for training and competition&#x3b; too few accessible facilities due to physical barriers&#x3b; and limited information on and access to resources. The chapters attribute central importance to the processes and mechanisms of <i>inclusion</i> 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.</p><br/><br/><p>The chapters were originally published in a special issue of <em>Sport in Society. </p></em>

<p><em>Being Disabled, Becoming a Champion</em> 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.</p><p></p><p>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&#x3b; the pioneers of wheelchair racing who invented a new discipline, off-road wheelchair racing&#x3b; 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.</p><p></p><p>This is an ideal text for students and researchers studying and working in the areas of Disability Studies, Sport Sciences and Paralympic Studies. </p><p></p><p>This book was originally published as a special issue of <i>Sport in Society</i>.</p>