Sports for Athletes with Disabilities - SRLP 4035

Sports for Athletes with Physical Disabilities

• Sports for athletes with physical disabilities is a topic covered by SRLP 4035.
• Three types of physical disabilities are covered, including those affecting physical and intellectual disabilities.
• Key organizations include the China Hong Kong Paralympic Committee (HKPC) and several sports associations for specific disabilities such as those by people with intellectual disabilities (HKSAPID), the deaf (HKCSAD), and blind (HKBSF).

Describing People with Disabilities

• Common definitions for impairment, disability, and handicap are provided by the World Health Organization.
• Impairment refers to any loss or abnormality in a body part or function.
• Disability is a restriction or lack of ability to perform normal activities.
• Handicap is a disadvantage in roles relative to peers.

Athletes with Disabilities

• Conditions include Amputation, Spinal Cord Injuries, Cerebral Palsy, Vision Impaired and Les Autres (other issues)

Amputation & Limb Loss

• Amputation involves the loss of a limb or limb segment.
• Possible causes include congenital issues (issues present at birth such as failure to develop, missing segments etc.), or acquired issues like trauma, diabetes, cancer, vascular diseases, infection or severe burns.
• Upper limb amputations are 1.6 times more common than lower limb amputations in children.

Functional Classification

• Functional classification systems use the site and level of limb absence.
• International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) provides a classification system based on bilateral or unilateral limb absence above or below the knee or elbow.
• A system uses different classes using letters and numbers to distinguish the different limbs affected

Sport Classification

• Sport classification systems, such as those for athletics, use "T" for track/jumps and "F" for field events to categorize athletes.
• Different classes are used depending on the amputation or other disabilities.
• Athletes may be required to use prosthetics in some events but other events allow athletes discretion.

Amputee Competitions

• In running events, T42, T43, and T44 athletes must wear prosthetics.
• Other sports, athletes may use prosthetics but the use of prosthetics is optional.

Spinal Cord Injuries

• Incidence of spinal cord injuries ranges from 250,000 to 500,000 annually.
• Major causes include automobile accidents (37%), falls (28%), violence (21%), and athletic injuries (6%).
• Other causes include conditions like Poliomyelitis and Spina Bifida.

Spinal Cord Injuries: Orthotic devices

• Orthotic devices are used to help individuals with spinal cord injuries.Types include hip-knee-ankle-foot orthosis, knee-ankle-foot orthosis, ankle-foot orthoses etc.

Spinal Cord Injuries (Milestones)

• Milestones with and without aids are noted, helping to determine progress. Aids like child safety devices, sitting stands, caster carts and standing braces contribute to normal development.

Spinal Cord Injuries: Resulting in...

• Injuries can result in quadriplegia (cervical injury) or paraplegia (other than cervical injury).
• Caution needs to be exercised as neck injury should be considered in any head injury.

Classification for Sports (Medical and Sport)

• Medical classification depends on the segment of spinal cord impaired. Sport classification categorises based on athlete abilities.

Tactile Area

• Tactile areas correlate with spinal segment connections. Damage can disrupt brain-cord links and those below the injury area.

Functional Sport Classification (Swimming)

• Different classifications are used for swimming dependent on the level of disability.
• For swimming, different classes might be used with various degrees of abilities and limitations.

Classification for Sports (International Wheelchair Basketball Federation – IWBF)

• Athletes need at least a "minimal disability" to play in IWBF sanctioned tournaments.
• They are classified based on points from 1 to 4.5 and for various levels of severity, with a maximum total point value for the team of 14.

Cerebral Palsy

• Cerebral palsy is a group of permanent disabling symptoms caused by damage to the motor areas in the brain.
• Impairment varies in severity from mild (slight speech impairment, reflex abnormalities) to severe (total inability to control bodily movement).
• Commonly caused by congenital issue (present at birth), though acquired trauma can also cause cerebral palsy (but less frequently.

Cerebral Palsy (Causes & Incidence)

• Cerebral palsy has congenital (birth) and acquired causes (occurred before, during, or soon after birth).
• Incidence is estimated at 800,000 children and adults in the USA; most cases are congenital.

Classification (Topographical)

• Monoplegia: one limb involved.
• Diplegia: major lower limb involvement.
• Hemiplegia: one side of the body affected.
• Paraplegia: both lower limbs involved.
• Triplegia: three limbs involved.
• Quadriplegia: all four limbs, head, neck, and trunk affected.

Medical Classification: Neuromotor System

• Several systems categorise the classification of impairment, including Muscle Spasticity, Athetosis and Ataxia.
• Different characteristics and limitations are defined to assist in categorization purposes.

Les Autres (other issues)

• Les Autres covers conditions not fitting other categories.
• Categories may include muscular dystrophy, Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, osteogenesis imperfecta, arthrogryposis, and multiple sclerosis along with other conditions. Detailed features are available for each condition.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease.
• Often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease.
• Gradual muscle weakness, and loss of control over use of the muscles occurs.

Dwarfism

• Dwarfism leads to people being shorter than 98% of the population.
• Causes include failure of cartilage to transform into bone and pituitary irregularity.
• Proportionate and Disproportionate categories of dwarfism are defined.

Dwarfism: Participation in Sports

• A formal organization (DAAA) for dwarf athletes emerged in 1985.
• Sports include basketball, boccia, powerlifting, swimming, skiing, table tennis, volleyball, badminton, soccer and equestrian.
• A World Dwarf Games happened in 1993.
• Participation in different divisions is facilitated depending on age and other features.
• Different sport classifications and divisions have been formed (e.g., swimming class S6, field and powerlifting classifications.

Vision Impaired

• Classification encompasses total and partial blindness.
• Legal blindness, travel vision, light perception, and total blindness degrees of vision loss are noted.
• Different classifications for sport purposes also occur (e.g. B1, B2, B3)