SPORTS FOR THE DISABLED: CHARACTERISTICS AND TYPES - ARTE - 2024

The adapted sports, also known as sports for the disabled, are modifications to sports that are already known intended to remove barriers and open up these activities to everyone, regardless of the type of disability they have.

Some of the most prominent are athletics, basketball, boccia, and cycling. Currently there are many people with a disability or problem that does not allow them to participate in the conventional sports that exist.

Adapted sport is a sport that adapts to the group of people with disabilities or special health conditions, either because a series of adaptations and / or modifications have been made to facilitate the practice of those, or because the structure of the sport itself allows its practice.

Therefore, we can point out that some sports have adapted their structure and rules depending on the group that is going to practice it.

On other occasions, a new modality has been created based on the characteristics of the group with disabilities who are going to play. An example could be basketball, which has been fully adapted to people with physical disabilities and can now be played in a wheelchair.

What is usually adapted or modified to constitute an adapted sport?

There are several adaptations or modifications that must be made in the sports we know in order for them to become an adapted sport:

-The rules or regulations have to be modified from the first moment, since people who have a disability, perhaps given their conditions, cannot follow them properly.

-On some occasions, we cannot use the same material that is used in conventional sport. For example, when we want this sport to be played by people with a sensory disability such as visual. In these cases the material that will be used will be sound so that they can locate where it is.

-You will also have to make adaptations such as technical-tactics, without forgetting the demands of the sport that is being adapted.

-Another important aspect is the sports facility that, in addition to the current access adaptations, will also need to adapt to the sport that is going to be played within it. Therefore, the playing court will need some inexpensive modifications such as highlighting the lines of the field.

Types of sports adapted or for the disabled

As we already know, there are currently many types of sports adapted for each type of disability. Here we are going to detail some, not because they are more important than the others, but because they are included in the paralympics.

Athletics

Athletics is one of the sports included in the Paralympic Games and has been one of the fastest evolving, thus participating blind, paraplegic and quadriplegic athletes, people with cerebral palsy and with some limb amputated.

Some athletes even compete in a wheelchair, with prostheses or with the help of a guide linked by a rope.

Athletics events can be divided into jumping, throwing as well as pentathlon and marathon contests as well as races. Therefore, as we can see, it includes all the Olympic events with the exception of hurdles, obstacles, as well as the pole vault and hammer throw events.

In the event that a disabled person uses a wheelchair, they will be designed with specific and lightweight materials to be able to compete without problems of any kind.

Wheelchair Basketball

This sport is adapted for people who have a physical disability either due to the amputation of a limb, paraplegics, etc.

They are usually governed by the same regulations as basketball, although with different adaptations such as, for example, that players must pass or bounce the ball after pushing the chair twice.

Boccia

The origins of this sport similar to petanque, go back to Classical Greece. Although it is a fairly old sport, it is very popular in Nordic countries and is usually played in the summer season, being adapted for people with cerebral palsy.

If there is something to highlight about this type of sport, it is that its tests are mixed. It can also be played both individually and in a group.

It is played on a rectangular track in which the participants try to throw their balls as close as possible to another white one while trying to keep the rivals away, so it can be considered a game of tension and precision.

Cycling

It consists of both track and road events and although it is relatively new, it can be considered one of the most popular Paralympics.

Its different types of tests are carried out in groups classified by the type of disability of the people who participate.

The groups can be made up of blind people, with cerebral palsy, visual deficiencies as well as people who have motor problems or who have an amputation.

Fencing

Fencing as it is known today dates back to the 19th century.

This type of sport is played with people who have a physical disability, so they will participate in a wheelchair with mechanisms that will allow it to move forward and backward.

It can be thought of as a combination of different skills such as tactics, strength, technique, and speed. There are different modalities such as: sword, foil and saber.

The inclusion of this type of sport using the wheelchair in the Paralympic Games dates back to 1960 in the games that took place in the city of Rome.

Soccer-7

It has very few differences from conventional football.

People who usually play this type of adapted sport have different degrees of cerebral palsy. The rules usually differ little from the original game as the rules of the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) are followed:

In this case, the teams are made up of seven people instead of 11 with the goalkeeper.

A single hand can be used for throw-ins. Unlike conventional sport, offside games do not exist. The duration of the matches is usually somewhat shorter, with a duration of 30 minutes for each period.

Finally, another discrepancy is that the players who make up the teams must have different levels of disability.

Goalball

Source: Australian Paralympic Committee

It comes from countries like Germany and Austria. It is considered a team sport made up of three players and, like soccer, it is played on a rectangular court with a goal at each end.

Unlike this one, the feet will not be used to play, but the hand. It is practiced by people who have some type of visual disability and the ball used is sound.

By allowing the participation of people with different degrees of visual impairment in the Goalball and to guarantee conditions between the blind and partially sighted; all players will wear a mask that covers their eyes.

Finally, it should be noted that for a correct development of the game you must be silent and applause is only allowed when a team has scored a goal.

Weightlifting

It is characterized by the speed with which it has spread throughout the world. It is practiced by amputee lifters, affected by cerebral palsy, paraplegics…

When the people who are going to participate in this type of sport have already been selected, they are usually divided according to their body weight instead of their injury in both female and male categories. It is made up of several modalities: powerlifting and weifhlifting.

This sport consists of being able to position the bar made up of weights on the chest, then leave it motionless and raise it until the elbows are extended. Participants have three attempts each time weight is added and the one who has been able to lift the most kilos gains.

Judo

Source: Ilgar Jafarov

This sport is a martial art that requires participants to balance attack and defense.

In the Paralympic modality it is usually practiced by people with visual disabilities. It varies from the conventional game in that in this case, the players start holding the lapels and the referee's indications are audible.

Swimming

Source: David Hawgood / Paralympic blind swimmers tapped to show they should turn

It is one of the best-known sports for people with disabilities. There are usually two groups: one for people with physical disabilities and another for people with visual disabilities.

Different styles are practiced in Paralympic swimming: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle. These modalities can be combined in the existing style tests.

Archery

This type of sport is also prominent among people with disabilities. It is practiced by people with physical disabilities and / or cerebral palsy.

It usually presents two modalities: standing and wheelchair. Individual and team events are held, in both male and female categories.

This modality of Paralympic archery usually has the same conditions in terms of rules, procedures and distances as those that are disputed in the Olympic Games.

What psychological and social benefits does it have?

Sport, like any recreational activity, has important benefits for our daily lives. This can be very important for people with disabilities, because even today they have to overcome many barriers in their daily life and this can cause them some problems.

For this reason, sport can be a good option to escape from the problems that these people have in their daily lives since, in addition to clearing up, it can also strengthen their body and mind.

It can also help self-improvement and seek new goals to meet on a daily basis, thus strengthening their social life (Lagar, 2003).

Brief history of adapted sport

Adapted sport had its first manifestations in a rehabilitative way for people who had a physical injury. But it was not until World War II when it began to be as we know it today due to the number of soldiers who ended up with a disability.

In England, Dr. Guttman discovered the psychological, socio-affective and social insertion benefits of this practice for these people. As a result of this discovery in 1948, coinciding with the Olympic Games (JJOO) in London, the first games for people with disabilities were held.

But it was not until 1960 when the Paralympic Games (JJPP) were held exclusively dedicated to people with disabilities (Lagar, 2003).

Thanks to this event, adapted sport emerged as we know it today. Although it is true that little by little it has evolved, thus changing its sports structures and modalities, to the point of including, according to the Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE) (2013), 20 disciplines, 503 events, 160 countries and 4,200 athletes with 2,500 judges and / or arbitrators. (Pérez Tejero and others, 2013).

conclusion

Sport is one of the activities that we like to do the most in our daily lives, whether or not we have some kind of disability. This helps us to evade and clear ourselves and even to relate to others.

For people with disabilities, sport has more meaning as it is a way of overcoming and seeking new goals to meet.

Thanks to adapted sport, they can also strengthen not only their body but also their mind. Therefore, our duty is to support this type of sport not only at school but also in other areas of life.

References

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