Lesson 2

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/121/5/1057

Article about children with disabilities participating in activities

https://bouldercolorado.gov/parks-rec/expand-program-for-people-with-disabilities

City of Boulder EXPAND Program

Persons with Disabilities are to be Ensured the Following Rights

Right to the Most Integrated Setting

The recreation consumer with a disability has the right to participate in the most integrated setting. This is defined in the U.S. Department of Justice guidelines as the setting in which interaction between people with and without disabilities is provided to the maximum extent feasible.

Right to Participate

A person with a disability has the right to register for and participate in recreation or leisure activities. In effect, every single Parks and Recreation Program offered for people with disabilities is available to people without disabilities. So long as he or she meets “essential eligibility” requirements required of all registrants, such as registering before the program is full and paying the same registration fee that others pay, participation should be welcomed. There may be other essential eligibility requirements, such as being able to serve, hit a backhand, and hit a forehand, for someone wishing to participate in an intermediate tennis tournament. These vary from activity to activity.

Right to Reasonable Accommodations

A person with a disability has the right to reasonable accommodations, provided by the activity organizer or sponsor, to meet essential eligibility requirements, if necessary to facilitate or enable participation in the activity of his or her choice. Accommodations include changes in rules and policies; extra staff for the coaching or management of the activity; a sign language interpreter or other aids for recreation consumers who are deaf or hard of hearing; braille or large print documents for recreation consumers who are blind or have impaired vision; and other efforts to facilitate participation.

Right to Adaptive Equipment

Another type of reasonable accommodation is the use of adaptive equipment. There are many examples of the successful use of adaptive equipment in current sport and recreation programs. Devices to enable better grasping are readily available on fishing rods, golf clubs, and other equipment. Padding or protective equipment is adapted or available for almost every sport, and is often the same safety equipment used by athletes in that sport, or in other sports.

Right to an Assessment or Evaluation

A recreation consumer shall not be discriminated against because of a perception of risk or a strict application of safety policies and rules. Recreation and sport providers must assess risk and the individual participant’s ability and experience in the sport or activity. The assessment must include a consideration of how reasonable accommodations such as rule changes or adaptive equipment would eliminate or minimize the risk and enable participation in the activity.

Disparate Impact

People with disabilities shall not be discriminated against by an unfair application of administrative rules or policies. Many rules and policies exist for good reasons. However, when the rule is implemented, it cannot have a greater impact on people with disabilities than on people without disabilities.

Fees

No sport or recreation provider shall charge a higher fee, or a surcharge, for the cost of accommodations or the cost of providing recreation in the most integrated setting. In public park and recreation programs, a fee for inclusive involvement that requires an accommodation is no different than a fee charged to other participants who do not have a disability.

Five Benefits 

• Psychological benefits: Self-confidence, personal growth, sense of control over one’s life, positive mood and emotion, reduced tension and depression, sense of freedom, creative expression, increased spirituality, and sense of wellness.
• Environmental benefits: Maintenance of physical facilities, development of an environmental ethic, preservation of natural sites, and environmental protection.
• Physiological benefits: Management of various diseases (arthritis, colon cancer, diabetes, etc.), Respiratory benefits, increased muscle strength and endurance, increased life expectancy, and reduced stress.
• Social and cultural benefits: Ethnic identity, family bonding, cultural and historical awareness, and enhanced world view.
• Economic benefits: Reduced health costs, higher employee productivity, less work absenteeism, and reduced youth recidivism (delinquency).