Can I Play? Including Athletes With Disabilities.

Listen - Can I Play

10:04

I was not born blind; I lost my vision as an adult. In some ways, this spared the heartbreak of this happening to me. 

However, I can recall when  the kids in my neighborhood would get together to play football or baseball on a vacant field or at a park. All the kids would line up and we would pick two team captains. Those team captains would then begin picking their team members from those lined up. I remember two kids in our neighborhood who were disabled. They would wait patiently, hoping that they would be chosen to play on one of the teams. I can still remember the disappointment, heartbreak and feelings of rejection they each felt as neither team chose them. Sometimes they would plead to be allowed to join, and occasionally, a team captain would give in—only to later kick them off if they couldn’t keep up. Again, those kids were dismissed without empathy, left to endure the heartbreak, disappointment, and rejection all over again. One disabled kid would jump up and down   celebrating the fact that he had at the very least been allowed to play, even if it was for a short time. 

As I share my memories of those times with a friend who lost her vision as a very young child, she discloses that she doesn’t recall ever feeling that sense of disappointment or feeling of rejection.This was most probably because she was never invited to participate to begin with. At home she mainly played with her cousins, who were much older rather than the neighborhood kids. She recounts to me, how her school had a completely separate activity they called Adaptive PE for those kids in her grade school who were disabled, not caring that each of those disabilities were completely different. There was one child who used a wheelchair, another who had a learning disorder, one who was nonverbal and her who is blind. Being little kids, they did the best they could to interact with each other. 

When her family moved to another school district, she was allowed on the playground with the rest of the able-bodied kids. She began to experience bullying from other kids on the playground, taking advantage of the fact that she is blind and would be unable to describe them to the playground monitors or a teacher. She recalls how some girls would purposely tie a rope across from one playground apparatus to another and call her to come over to join them, so that she would trip on the rope they had tied, or how some boys would throw sand in her face or purposely trip her because they thought it was funny to see her fall down.  Some kids thought it was hilarious to invite her to play hide and seek, fully cognizant she is blind.Still she played along as well as she could, happy that she was at the very least being included. 

She confides to me that there were many experiences that made her sad and frustrated, but knew they were doing it simply because she is blind and there was nothing, she could do about it. Despite these experiences she remained positive and sought to fit in and participate in various activities, such as marching band.  

Each of these accounts is emblematic of the experiences of disappointment, rejection and bullying, kids with disabilities face on a daily basis. 

But, thanks to some incredible individuals, change has slowly been forged, opening many avenues for many sporting activities. The hope is to convince more people with disabilities to participate for their own mental well-being and health benefits as well as to normalize our participation in an able-bodied world. Hopefully, this will inspire those with disabilities who are waiting on the sidelines to realize they no longer need an invitation—they can forge their own path into any activity they wish to join. 

History of Paralympic Games 

A German born Nazi refugee, neurosurgeon named Sir Ludwig Guttmann after World War II was invited by the British government to establish a spinal cord injury Center, at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1948. Guttmann insisted that injured service members be taken off sedation,moved around ,and encouraged to participate in sports in an effort to hopefully extend their life expectancies. He began by establishing an archery competition, that included 16 injured British service men and women. He then expanded the games by including more sports competitions and began inviting injured athletes from around the world. This marked the beginning of the Paralympic Games. The emergence of this category came just in time for inclusion in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, held from September 18th to 25th, featuring 400 athletes from 23 countries. 

The Olympics and Paralympics are about elite competition and specialization, and the athletes compete only once every four years in their sport. 

The Paralympics are limited to those with physical disabilities and is held parallel to the regular Olympics, in the same village and same sporting venues. The only difference is that paralympic athletes compete against other physically disabled athletes with similar disabilities. According to 17-year-old, Anastasia Pagonis, a blind paralympic gold medal swimmer Long Island native with over 2 million TikTok followers who strives to teach the world about inclusion, “We are all bad asses.” Every Paralympic Games is chocked full of amazing achievements by these incredible disabled athletes. 

The Paralympics should not be confused with the Special Olympics which is dedicated solely to athletes with intellectual disabilities, which can include some forms of Autism on the spectrum and ADHD, but not all. Intellectual disability is the most common developmental disability. Many people with Intellectual Disabilities also have other conditions, referred to as comorbidities, such as seizures, learning disorders, vision loss, loss of hearing, speech problems, scoliosis, or joint problems.  The most common are a lack of muscle coordination when performing voluntary movements such as in cerebral palsy with a condition known as ataxia, stiff or tight muscles and exaggerated reflexes (spasticity). 

Unlike the Olympics and Paralympics that are held every 4 years, the Special Olympics occur every two years and alternate between Summer and Winter Games. The Special Olympics are not part of the Olympics or Paralympics but do support each other.  

What is the fundamental difference between the Special Olympics, Olympics and Paralympic organizations? 

The Special Olympics welcomes all athletes with intellectual disabilities, of all ability levels, ages 8 and up. Olympic and Paralympic athletes must fulfill certain criteria and meet qualifying standards in order to be eligible to qualify for the team. 

At the community level, persons with disabilities are no longer satisfied with waiting to be invited to participate in a sports team or activity, they are now forming their own. The activities run the gamut from yoga, dancing, Go Ball, Beep Baseball, Judo, Karate, swimming, target rifle shooting, dragon boat racing, surfing, hiking, cycling, rock climbing and rappelling to sky diving and white-water rafting.   Persons with disabilities are rising to the challenge, surprising the able-bodied world, and setting an inspiring example and high standard for future generations with disabilities. 

Persons with disabilities continue to push the envelope by educating the public, trainers, coaches and teams on our needs, promoting the development of adaptive gear and equipment, advocating for accessible facilities, creating solely disabled activities, teams and participating in inclusive leagues and competitions.  We strive to change the landscape of sports for persons with disabilities by changing the mindset of how we are perceived by the public and creating policies for all levels of disabilities that promote inclusivity and accessibility.  

This can prove to be a very empowering experience. By raising the bar for all those with disabilities that will follow, it encourages them to attempt things outside their comfort zones and begin applying for those institutions of higher learning and those jobs they thought would be outside their reach or couldn’t be hired at. Success in sport activities has emboldened persons with disabilities to reach higher goals and encouraged many more to keep excelling beyond what they thought they could achieve.  

Now we have to convince the public to attend disabled sports activities to acquire the funding needed to grow and expand these leagues. 

Fight on! 

Editor's Note: GO BRUINS! (Akira)