Parasports are sports played by people with a disability, including physical and intellectual disabilities. Some parasports are forms of adapted physical activities from existing able-bodied sports, while others have been specifically created for persons with a disability and do not have an able-bodied equivalent. Disability exists in four categories: physical, mental, permanent and temporary. At a competitive level, disability sport classifications are applied to allow people of varying abilities to face similar opposition.
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Olympics competitions are held daily, all around the world—including local, national and regional competitions, adding up to more than 100,000 events a year. Like the International Paralympic Committee, the Special Olympics organization is recognized by the International Olympic Committee; however, unlike the Paralympic Games, Special Olympics World Games are not held in the same year nor in conjunction with the Olympic Games.
Clayton Holmes Aiken is an American singer, television personality, actor, politician, and activist. Aiken finished second place on the second season of American Idol in 2003, and his debut album, Measure of a Man, went multi-platinum. He released four more albums on the RCA label, Merry Christmas with Love (2004), A Thousand Different Ways (2006), the Christmas EP All is Well (2006), and On My Way Here (2008). Since then he has released two more albums, both with Decca Records: Tried and True (2010) and Steadfast (2012). Aiken has also had eleven tours in support of his albums. In all, he has sold over 5 million albums, and is the fourth-highest-selling American Idol alumnus.
Special education is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. This involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, and accessible settings. These interventions are designed to help individuals with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and in their community, which may not be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.
The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad include college and university professors; historians, students; precollegiate teachers; archivists, museum curators, and other public historians; and a variety of scholars employed in government and the private sector. The OAH publishes the Journal of American History. Among its various programs, OAH conducts an annual conference each spring, and has a robust speaker bureau—the OAH Distinguished Lectureship Program.
Inclusion in education refers to all students being able to access and gain equal opportunities to education and learning. It arose in the context of special education with an individualized education program or 504 plan, and is built on the notion that it is more effective for students with special needs to have the said mixed experience for them to be more successful in social interactions leading to further success in life. The philosophy behind the implementation of the inclusion model does not prioritize, but still provides for the utilization of special classrooms and special schools for the education of students with disabilities. Inclusive education models are brought into force by educational administrators with the intention of moving away from seclusion models of special education to the fullest extent practical, the idea being that it is to the social benefit of general education students and special education students alike, with the more able students serving as peer models and those less able serving as motivation for general education students to learn empathy.
The Burton Blatt Institute (BBI), established at Syracuse University in 2005, is an organization that aims to advance civic, economic, and social participation of persons with disabilities in a global society. Peter Blanck, a University Professor at Syracuse University, is the chairman of BBI.
Inclusion, in relation to persons with disabilities, is defined as including individuals with disabilities in everyday activities and ensuring they have access to resources and opportunities in ways that are similar to their non-disabled peers. Disability rights advocates define true inclusion as results-oriented, rather than focused merely on encouragement. To this end, communities, businesses, and other groups and organizations are considered inclusive if people with disabilities do not face barriers to participation and have equal access to opportunities and resources.
Cyo Camp is a residential summer camp located in Brown County Indiana. It is operated by the Catholic Youth Organization and offers 8 one-week sessions for children during the summer.
Kessler Foundation, established in 1985, is a leading nonprofit in the field of rehabilitation research for people with disabilities. Kessler Foundation has its roots in the Kessler Institute, founded in 1949 to improve medical outcomes and employment of people disabled by brain or spinal injury. Kessler Foundation conducts rehabilitation research with the goal of increasing function for cognition, mobility, and long-term outcomes, including employment, for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord.
Light for the World is an international disability and development NGO aiming at an inclusive society. The organisation currently supports projects in Sub-Saharan Africa — including: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, South Sudan and Uganda dedicated to the restoration of eyesight, prevention of blindness, rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, inclusive education and promotion of their human rights.
Knowbility is an American non-governmental organization based in Austin, Texas, working to support the independence and empowerment of people with disabilities by promoting the use and improving the availability of accessible information technology. Its mission is to create an inclusive digital world for people of all abilities. Knowbility's signature program is the Accessibility Internet Rally, a web-building competition that brings together volunteer web designers to create accessible websites for nonprofit organizations and artists that serve communities all over the world.
Normal People Scare Me: A Film about Autism is a 2006 American documentary film about autism, produced by Joey Travolta. The project began as a 10-minute short film co-directed by an autistic teenager named Taylor Cross, and his mother Keri Bowers. Travolta first met Cross at a program Travolta led teaching the art of filmmaking to children with special needs. He mentored Cross, and the documentary was expanded into a feature-length film.
Genevieve Clay-Smith is an Australian writer and director. She is an advocate of inclusive filmmaking.
The Harold Grinspoon Foundation (HGF) is a private foundation established in 1993 and located in Agawam, Massachusetts. It is a 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization charitable organization with the goal of "enhancing Jewish and community life in Western Massachusetts, North America, Israel, and beyond."
Mithu Alur is the founder chairperson of The Spastic Society of India – now rechristened ADAPT – Able Disable All People Together. She is an educator, disability rights activist, researcher, writer and published author on issues concerning people with disability in India.
Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF) was established in 1991 by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan and the Mitsubishi Electric US group companies, which manufacture, market and distribute a wide range of consumer, industrial, commercial and professional electronics products. Based in the Washington D.C. area, MEAF works to make societal changes by investing in innovative strategies to empower youth with disabilities to lead productive lives. The Foundation supports national grant programs and employee volunteer programs across the United States. Since its inception, the Foundation has contributed more than $9 million to organizations assisting young people with disabilities.
Inclusive Classroom is a term used within American pedagogy to describe a classroom in which all students, irrespective of their abilities or skills, are welcomed holistically. It is built on the notion that being in a non-segregated classroom will better prepare special-needs students for later life. In the United States, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 guaranteed civil rights to disabled people, though inclusion of disabled students progressed slowly until the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, after which almost half of US students with disabilities were soon in general classrooms.
There are around 447,600 people with disability in Cuba. A large number of people with disabilities in Cuba have an intellectual disability and about 3.2 percent have a severe disability. The government of Cuba has a medical model of disability in its approach to policies on people with disabilities. The government is also hostile to organizations who do not fully support Cuba's politics. Another unique challenge that people with disabilities in the country face is due to the economic embargo of Cuba which has caused shortages in medical materials and assistive technology. The Constitution of Cuba has provisions for protecting the rights of people with disabilities and the country signed onto the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007.
The Irede Foundation (TIF) is a foundation established in 2012 by Crystal Chigbu to educate Nigerians on congenital and acquired limb loss, also on how to associate with and care for children with this kind of loss. The foundation provides free and subsidized artificial limbs for children who cannot afford them. They focus on children within the ages of 0–18 years. The foundation has its laboratory in Lagos for assembling prosthetics. The foundation was named the humanitarian foundation of the year in 2017 by Green October Event 2017.
