Inclusive recreation

Last updated January 23, 2020

Inclusive recreation, also known as adaptive or accessible recreation, is a concept whereby people with disabilities are given the opportunity to participate in recreational activities. Through the use of activity modifications and assistive technology, athletes or participants in sports or other recreational pursuits are able to play alongside their non-disabled peers. The Boy Scouts of America, for example, has about 100,000 physically or mentally disabled members throughout the United States.^[1]

Adaptive methods

Activity modifications

Activity modifications are changes made to a game or activity that allow all players to have an equal or more equal chance of doing well. One example of an activity modification is a wheelchair basketball game, where players use wheelchairs. The players' inability to walk is not a factor in how well they play.

Assistive devices

Assistive devices are any machines or equipment used to level the playing field in a mixed-ability competition, or to allow someone the opportunity to participate that could not do so without its benefit. Good examples of assistive devices are swimming pool lifts that lower non-ambulatory swimmers into a pool, and standing frames that allow wheelchair users to stand up while playing ball. Many municipal governments in the U.S. use adaptive recreation as a way to meet the requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), specifically its section dealing with public services. Governments are required by ADA law to provide reasonable accommodation to people with disabilities in order to allow them participation in sports and recreation programs.

1. Activity modification for ball hockey.
2. A steampunk-styled wheelchair.
3. A wheelchair designed for beach use.
4. Glider pilots leave their wheelchairs behind.

1. "Power hockey" is shown, played using electric wheelchairs in a gymnasium, and low nets.
2. Shown is a steampunk-style wheelchair decorated by the user, at a comic fans' convention, Comic Con.
3. Sandy beaches and snow-covered parks can be made accessible to wheelchairs with specially-designed wide wheels. Some facilities rent them to users, such as this example in the Netherlands.
4. Some activities require few modifications. Here, wheelchair users participate in glider flying as pilots, at Portmoak Airfield, Scotlandwell, Scotland, UK.

Programs and models

Some organizations have the means to establish large programs for many participants in an activity. A plan for creating inclusive recreation may include staff training on inclusive practices, the purchase or construction of universally-accessible equipment, and tracking success and addressing further accessibility needs as they arise. A variety of inclusion concepts and models exist, which may focus on inclusive recreation program content, or on the processes of inclusion themselves. These include the Cincinnati Model for Inclusion, the Supportive Recreation Inclusion (SRI) Model, the Together We Play (TWP) service-delivery model, and the CITI Model, among many others.^[2]

Staff training is a crucial step in managing the success of an inclusive recreation program. A lack of awareness on the part of staff can have a negative impact on recreation participants; for example, assuming inappropriately that a person with a visual-impairment needs to be spoken to in a loud and slow voice can result in the participant disengaging from the activity. Training recommendations may include addressing both negative attitudes and behaviours through "personal contact and interaction", by working with people with disabilities. Staff are encouraged to promote "self-determination" among recreation participants, which "increases a person's learning and sense of competence".^[3]

Therapeutic recreation

Therapeutic recreation is intended to help a patient adapt to a chronic disabling condition. A certified therapeutic recreation specialist uses their specialized training, along with professional standards, to develop programs that can accommodate the particular needs of patients. Therapeutic recreation may be part of a school's special education programming, or it may be part of a hospital's, community's, or organization's programs.

Adaptive recreation for children

1. Assisted surfing
2. Accessible playground equipment
3. A raft designed for transporting wheelchairs.

1. Children with autism spectrum disorders learn to surf with the assistance of trained surfers. 2010 Surfer's Healing Malibu event, Surfrider Beach, California.
2. Playground equipment can be accessible for wheelchairs, with ramps as shown, and other equipment.
3. A floating raft for wheelchair users at the Playmobil Fun Park near Nuremberg, Germany, allows children using wheelchairs to participate in waterpark activities.

Related Research Articles

Assistive technology (AT) is assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities or the elderly population. People who have disabilities often have difficulty performing activities of daily living (ADLs) independently, or even with assistance. ADLs are self-care activities that include toileting, mobility (ambulation), eating, bathing, dressing, grooming, and personal device care. Assistive technology can ameliorate the effects of disabilities that limit the ability to perform ADLs. Assistive technology promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to, or changing methods of interacting with, the technology needed to accomplish such tasks. For example, wheelchairs provide independent mobility for those who cannot walk, while assistive eating devices can enable people who cannot feed themselves to do so. Due to assistive technology, people with disabilities have an opportunity of a more positive and easygoing lifestyle, with an increase in "social participation," "security and control," and a greater chance to "reduce institutional costs without significantly increasing household expenses."

Disabled sports, also adaptive sports or parasports, are sports played by people with a disability, including physical and intellectual disabilities. As many disabled sports are based on existing able bodied sports, modified to meet the needs of persons with a disability, they are sometimes referred to as adapted sports. However, not all disabled sports are adapted; several sports that have been specifically created for persons with a disability have no equivalent in non-disabled sports. Disability exists in four categories: physical, mental, permanent and temporary.

Accessibility in the sense considered here refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" and "indirect access" meaning compatibility with a person's assistive technology.

Universal design is the design of buildings, products or environments to make them accessible to all people, regardless of age, disability or other factors.

Adapted physical education is the art and science of developing, implementing, and monitoring a carefully designed physical education. Instructional program for a learner with a disability, based on a comprehensive assessment, to give the learner the skills necessary for a lifetime of rich leisure, recreation, and sport experiences to enhance physical fitness and wellness. Principles and Methods of Adapted Physical Education and Recreation.Adapted physical education generally refers to school-based programs for students ages 3–21.

Adaptive Sports USA is a registered multi-sport organization of the United States Olympic Committee/the U.S. Paralympics dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyles by implementing sports and recreation opportunities for children and adults with a physical disability.

Inclusion is a term used by people with disabilities and other disability rights advocates for the idea that all people should take action to freely accommodate people with a physical, mental, cognitive, and or developmental disability. For example, providing ramps and accessible toilets in meeting facilities or providing additional intervention and resources in the education system are known as 'universal design' or efforts towards the goal of inclusion. The education system has a more specific definition for disability. An individual who exhibits challenges that substantially limits one or more major life activities is disabled. The interpretation of what is considered a major life activity has been recently expanded to include all barriers to reading, writing, concentrating, and thinking. For example, individuals with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, are now included as a disability in the education system. This allows educational resources to be used for a wider population of individuals with barriers to learning.

Assistive technology service providers help individuals with disabilities acquire and use appropriate Assistive Technology (AT) to help them participate in activities of daily living, employment and education.

Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted. Athletes are classified in accordance with the nature and severity of their disability or combinations of disabilities. Like running, it can take place on a track or as a road race. The main competitions take place at the Summer Paralympics which wheelchair racing and athletics has been a part of since 1960. Competitors compete in specialized wheelchairs which allow the athletes to reach speeds of 30 km/h (18.6 mph) or more. It is one of the most prominent forms of Paralympic athletics.

Wheelchair chair with wheels, used by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, or disability

A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, or disability. Wheelchairs come in a wide variety of formats to meet the specific needs of their users. They may include specialized seating adaptions, individualized controls, and may be specific to particular activities, as seen with sports wheelchairs and beach wheelchairs. The most widely recognized distinction is between powered wheelchairs ("powerchairs"), where propulsion is provided by batteries and electric motors, and manually propelled wheelchairs, where the propulsive force is provided either by the wheelchair user/occupant pushing the wheelchair by hand ("self-propelled"), or by an attendant pushing from the rear.

Design for All in the context of information and communications technology (ICT) is the conscious and systematic effort to proactively apply principles, methods and tools to promote universal design in computer-related technologies, including Internet-based technologies, thus avoiding the need for a posteriori adaptations, or specialised design.

Disability in the arts is an aspect within various arts disciplines of inclusive practices involving disability. It manifests itself in the output and mission of some stage and modern dance performing-arts companies, and as the subject matter of individual works of art, such as the work of specific painters and those who draw.

The Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association is the peak body for sport, recreation and fitness for people with a physical disability or vision impairment in the Australian state of Queensland.

Disabled Sports USA serves more than 60,000 disabled athletes annually, making it one of the largest national multi-sport, multi-disability organizations in the United States. Disabled Sports USA is a United States-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1967 and based in Rockville, Maryland providing opportunities youth and adults with disabilities to develop independence, confidence and fitness through participation in disabled sports.

Disability racquetball classification is the medical based classification system developed to allow fair competition between racquetball players with different disability types and against able-bodied competitors. Internationally and in Canada, this classification system only allows only wheelchair users to be eligible to compete. In contrast, the United States classification system covers wheelchair users and people with vision impairments, with different classes inside these disability types.

Para-equestrian is an equestrian sport governed by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), and includes two competitive events: One is para-equestrian dressage, which is conducted under the same basic rules as conventional dressage, but with riders divided into different competition grades based on their functional abilities. The other is para-equestrian driving, which operates under the same basic rules as combined driving but places competitors in various grades based on their functional abilities.

Assistive technology in sport is an area of technology design that is growing. Assistive technology is the array of new devices created to enable sports enthusiasts who have disabilities to play. Assistive technology may be used in disabled sports, where an existing sport is modified to enable players with a disability to participate; or, assistive technology may be used to invent completely new sports with athletes with disabilities exclusively in mind.

Disability sports in Australia is the component of sports in Australia encompasses disabled sports programs for Australians with a disability, including physical and intellectual disabilities, allowing for the full participation in society. As with abled-body sports, these programs include child development, rehabilitation, recreation and competition at all levels.

AccesSurf is a nonprofit charity organization that offers a variety of programs, services, and events for people with a disability. Based in Honolulu, HI, AccesSurf was founded in 2006. Their mission is to “empower people with disabilities by providing adaptive surfing and therapeutic educational programs on water recreation and enriches lives by helping families to access the beach and ocean in a barrier free environment.” AccesSurf educates the general public about how to help people with disabilities and provide the resources necessary to create the opportunities. They have created programs locally and nationally to assist anyone with a physical disability or cognitive disability in the water environment. For the fiscal year of 2013, AccesSurf netted $104,960 with their asset amount of $112,408.

Cerebral palsy sport classification is a classification system used by sports that include people with cerebral palsy (CP) with different degrees of severity to compete fairly against each other and against others with different types of disabilities. In general, Cerebral Palsy-International Sports and Recreation Association (CP-ISRA) serves as the body in charge of classification for cerebral palsy sport, though some sports have their own classification systems which apply to CP sportspeople.

References

↑ "Boy Scouts". The New Book of Knowledge. Grolier Online. Retrieved 2008-02-24.(subscription required)
↑ Inclusive Recreation. Human Kinetics. 2010. pp. 71–7. ISBN 9780736087469.
↑ Inclusive Recreation. Human Kinetics. 2010. p. 66. ISBN 9780736087469.

External links

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[grolier-1] "Boy Scouts". The New Book of Knowledge. Grolier Online. Retrieved 2008-02-24.(subscription required)

[2] Inclusive Recreation. Human Kinetics. 2010. pp. 71–7. ISBN 9780736087469.

[3] Inclusive Recreation. Human Kinetics. 2010. p. 66. ISBN 9780736087469.