Not Broken: Improving Disability Sports

Abstract

Disability sport provides an outlet for physical activity as well as a community aspect that can create bonds between people who are working for a common goal. However, because of the lack of disability sport opportunities, as well as various other reasons, individuals with disabilities meet the recommended amount of daily physical activity 4.5 times less than their typically developing peers (U.S. Department of Education, 2011). This indicates that a better understanding of how disability sport can be improved is needed. This study aimed to better understand this issue by conducting a survey of leaders (n=35) of organizations focused on disabilities (e.g., The Autism Society, The Special Olympics). Using a mixed method approach, the online survey consisted of two sections. The first section included open-ended questions and sought to better understand why the organizational leader chose to work in their field, capture how they believed disability sport could improve, and encourage more involvement. The second section sought to measure and quantify the participant’s view of disability sport by using 5-point Likert scale (i.e., strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, neutral, somewhat agree, strongly agree) statements. Descriptive analysis was used to determine the participants’ perceptions of disability sport. The survey responses indicated that the participants were led to work in the field that they do by four main themes. These themes were identified as: Physical Activity Interest, Personal Connection, Job Placement, and a Desire to Help Others. Further, the participants were asked what they believe could improve in disability sports. The themes were identified as Inclusion, Awareness, and Increased Adaptation and Accessibility for Participants. The Likert- scale questions helped gauge barriers and facilitators of creating more opportunities. The focus of this study is to capitalize on these experiences and identify barriers and facilitators of disability sport through the survey responses.