Factors That Affect Special Needs Population Participation in Sport - Term Paper Example

Table of Contents 0 Introduction 3 1 Benefits of sports to persons with special needs 3 2 Challenges in special needs sport 4 2.0 Factors that affect special needs population participation in sport 4 2.1 Stigma 4 2.2 Poor communication and training 6 2.3 Poverty 6 2.4 Negative school experiences 7 2.5 Lack of media coverage 8 2.6 Lack of transport 9 3.0 Conclusion 9 1.0 Introduction In many societies, individuals with special needs arouse negative attitudes and face discrimination. They also experience stigma, disempowerment, social and economic marginalization. These factors have contributed to the loss of opportunities, and poor quality of life for individuals and their families. Sports for people with special needs is not a new phenomenon, but has existed as a low cost means of fostering inclusion and improving the well-being for persons with disabilities (Woods, 2011). According to the United Nations’ Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities 1993, every member state should take measures to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal rights for recreation and sports (Rimmer, 2008). Sports participation enables one to understand the expectations of the whole society as well as gain the physical and social skills needed to function in the community. Research indicates that sports participation of children with special needs decreases as one age (Rimmer, 2008). 1.1 Benefits of sports to persons with special needs Persons with special needs participation in physical education and sports, they become adapted to their levels of bodily conditions. This ensures they benefit fully and attain physical fitness. It further helps them enhance their cognitive, psychomotor and affective development. This helps them prepare to undertake other activities in life. Persons with a disability who participate in sports improve their strength, coordination, and flexibility. They are also less depressed; perform better in academics and have a more stable behavior and in their social relations (Smith et al., 2005). 1.2 Challenges in special needs sport Disability sports complexity and multi-dimensional approach have resulted in challenges and many controversies. The main challenges are mainly associated with attitudes, inclusions and integration of disabled people in sport. Similarly, accessibility has been cited as an overarching principle for the success of disability sport (Coakley, 2009). As disability sport develops, challenges such as classification system, doping ethics, and morality as well as equity issue arise and needs to be fully addressed. Other challenges arise from the leadership structures, levels of awareness, relationships, funding and technical know-how. 2.0 Factors that affect special needs population participation in sport In many instances, sports participation has not been inclusive. Sport has remained as an area where discriminatory attitudes and practices towards persons with special needs disabilities are propagated. Even when efforts have been made to make the sport more accessible and inclusive, there has been a lack of understanding, knowledge and communication on how to acclimatize sports appropriately. This has resulted in high levels of intolerance and divisiveness (Smith et al., 2005). 2.1 Stigma Individuals with special needs are faced with discriminatory practices and policies. These policies and practices arise from stigma and act as barriers to sports participation. Stigma makes children refuse to engage children with disabilities in their play. In most instances, teachers also fail to ask what students with special needs can do. Consequences of stigma can be severe and even fatal. In some cultures, parents whose children have special needs are rejected by the community. Due to fear for their children safety, many confine their child in the home. This kind of seclusion denies the children the opportunity to engage in sports and other physical activities (Darcy, Taylor, Murphy, & Lock, 2011). People with special needs and mainly those with disabilities are highly dependent. These people are thus considered frail, incapable and unskilled. In many educational set ups, teachers exaggerate the disability and exclude the persons with disabilities from participating in sports. The teachers become too protective and unjustifiably emphasize on their safety. They fail to encourage such individuals develop their personal ideas, express their desires and make their own decisions (Liu, 2009). Teachers are also reluctant to have the disabled in their classrooms and sports because they lack special resources or training to teach. This means many are turned away when they try to enroll in sports activities. In other instances, those who have enrolled into certain sports are bullied and isolated by their peers and hence are forced to drop out of the sport. Additionally the communities and schools are not in tune with the importance of the persons with disabilities independence (Liu, 2009). Many people with special needs lack knowledge of the various programs, facilities, resources and any other information that would help them take part in sporting activities. This is mainly caused by lack of social skills and also health-related issues. Similarly, families with children who have special needs lack awareness of the benefits of sports participation (United Nations, 2006). When these families are forced to make decisions on how to spend their money, most of them choose to give their children education and other basic rights forgetting about sports activities. 2.2 Poor communication and training Deaf persons may face the challenge of communicating with others who lack the skills and knowledge of sign language. When there is a lack of Braille or large print, they are not able to understand and read the rules for the sports of their interest (United Nations, 2006). In other instances, children with special needs are not able to benefit from general health care and awareness campaigns. This has been influenced mainly by the family beliefs and health professionals. In some cases, persons with special needs have been denied treatment because of their inabilities and families may choose the abled brothers and sisters for medical help. The lack of awareness among the health professionals, make them fail to see how much the youths with disabilities are missing out (DePauw & Avron, 2005). As a result of poor education and training, leaders are not able to improve sports provision for people with disabilities. Additionally sports providers are concerned with the risks involved in including people with disability in their sports. There has been increased concerns about the high cost of insurance among the suppliers and hence have very few opportunities for people with special needs. 2.3 Poverty The cost has acted as a major factor affecting the participant in relation to transport and equipment. The costs involved in registration to various disability organizations and other costs associated with providing services hindermost of them from participating in sports (Darcy et al. 2011). Families with individuals with special needs have incomes below the national average. This is because most parents have given up paid employment, work fewer hours and give up job advancement in order to take care of their children. Due to lack of adequate finances most people with special needs are neglected and are not able to access therapy or rehabilitative services (Roger, 2005). This in turn fosters a high level of inactivity hence causing restricted mobility beyond the disability. Muscular atrophy resulting from inactivity makes it difficult for the individuals to coordinate, reach, bend and carry weight. This eventually leads to diminished capacities as they lose muscles to feed, bathe and engage in sports. Many sports clubs and disability organizations are faced with a lack of adequate finances to provide sports to their clients. The high cost of equipment’s and transportation requirements makes it very expensive to acquire them (United Nations, 2006). Although, primary education is a basic right, there are other costs involved in attending school. School children need items such as school uniforms and writing materials (Hallinan and Steven, 2008). Children with special needs even pose a greater challenge as there are other indirect costs involved in their access to education. Mainly in the rural areas, going to schools for persons with special needs may involve traveling long distances and spending time away from helping out with family activities such as farming. In many instances, children with special needs need to be accompanied on their way to school by their family members. This means an extra cost of transport. Similarly, the family has to pay for assistive devices to facilitate school attendance. The high costs involved mainly hinder them from engaging in sports that require money for registration (Liu, 2009). 2.4 Negative school experiences In many schools, pupils with special needs are excluded. Children experience segregation from other children, and some staff may believe that disabled children should only associate with other disabled children. Persons with special needs find bit very difficult to associate with those without disabilities and hence only form strong relationships with their parents. This kind of exclusion affects the persons with special needs negatively and hence effect upon sports participation. Research by W00d (2011) indicates that schools and parents may negatively influence the sports participation of the persons with special needs. Persons with special needs are less likely to attend school and hence are less exposed to primary school physical education. When children are exposed to the proper primary physical education, they are more likely to like sport as compared to those who do not receive the education (United Nations, 2006). According to (Liu, 2009), sports participation is very crucial in promoting social inclusion of people with special needs. Sports participation opens up new opportunities for the special persons to interact with friends and develop social support networks. Many coaches lack adequate time to supervise and support participation. According to the Disability Discrimination Act, “every sport facility managers should take steps to ensure that all facilities are accessible, through the provision and design of ramps, and changing facilities. This is because; many indoor facilities and open-air amenities are unfriendly for persons with special needs. 2.5 Lack of media coverage Another major factor contributing to low levels of sports participation among persons with special needs is poor media coverage. The general coverage of Paralympic games continues to medicalise, patronize and dehumanize disabled persons. This helps reinforce negative attitudes, assumptions and expectations on which expectation of the disabled people are based (Barnes, 1992). Media acts as an influence among the disabled in adopting the values of the society. The media has played a great role in perpetuating negative perceptions of the disabled people in the society and mainly in sports. According to the social stratification of the society, people are ranked in relation to their contribution to the community. As a result, the persons with special needs are placed low in the social hierarchy and hence are denied opportunities in power and life chances. The lack of an opportunity to take part in an organized sport is one of the consequences of their low hierarchical placement. In many instances, information about various events is often not passed on to the disability sector. 2.6 Lack of transport Many people with special needs lack the means of transport to sports programs and facilities. Public transport accessibility is very limited and is mainly a challenge to those in rural areas. Transport costs are very prohibitive for individuals with disabilities a factor that has made it difficult for them to travel to sports activities. Where these facilities are available, it has been difficult to secure playing time since sports for people with special needs are not often considered as a priority (Roger, 2005). Similarly, it has posed a great challenge to secure coaches who are able to believe in the capabilities of persons with special needs and who have complete knowledge of the various sports that can be adopted to include their disabilities. Additionally, coaches may feel and think that persons with special needs cannot play certain games due to their inabilities. 3.0 Conclusion There are various factors that affect sports participation among persons with special needs. The main factors include stigma, high poverty levels, lack of transport, discrimination and lack of media coverage. However, it is important to note “disability is not inability.” Persons with special needs need an opportunity to participate in sports activities. This can be made possible through a change of attitudes, improving physical infrastructure, financing and proper training of teachers and coaches. The disabled persons should further be given equal opportunities in sports just like their able peers. This will make them become accepted by their peers as well as develop their self-esteem. References Blauwet, C. (2005). Promoting the health and human rights of individuals with a disability through the Paralympic movement. Bonn: International Paralympic Committee. Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies. New York: McGraw-Hill Darcy, S., Taylor, T., Murphy, A., & Lock, D. (2011). Getting involved in the sport: The participation and non-participation of people with disability in sport and active recreation. Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. DePauw, K.P., & G avron, S.J. (2005). Disability Sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Hallinan, C. and Steven, J. (2008). Social and Cultural Diversity in a Sporting World. Emerald Group Publishing Limited: United Kingdom Liu, Y. D. (2009). Sport and social inclusion: evidence on the performance of public leisure facilities. Social Indicators Research, 90(2), pp. 325–37. Oliver, M. (1996). Understanding disability: From theory to practice. Basingstoke, Houndmills: Macmillan. Roger, J. (2005). Sports Administration Manual. Alberta: Olympic Solidarity/ International Olympic Committee; available at; Retrieved from http://www.paralympic.org. Retrieved on 17th May, 2015 Rimmer, J. (2008). Promoting Inclusive physical activity communities for people with disabilities. President’s Council On Physical Fitness And Sports Research Digest, 9 (2), 18. Smith, R. W., Austin, D. R., Kennedy, D. W., Lee, Y., and Hutchison, P. (2005). Inclusive and Special Recreation: Opportunities for persons with disabilities, 5th edition, NY: McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. United Nations. (2006). Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. New York: Retrieved from http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml: United Nations General Assembly A/61/611 - 6 December 2006. Woods, R. (2011). Social Issues In Sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Read More