Disability does not limit a child in being able to participate in sports, and the research shows that participation in […]
Disability does not limit a child in being able to participate in sports, and the research shows that participation in the community and sport can actually have significant positive effects on physical and mental health for children with disabilities. Sport builds strength, endurance, body awareness, and coordination on top of developing cognitive planning and social skills.
What is the Paralympics?
There are ten impairments that the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) includes in Para Sport. These ten types of impairments are either physical, vision or intellectual impairments. To participate in the Paralympic Games, athletes have to fulfill certain criteria and meet certain qualifying standards in order to be eligible. The Paralympics are about elite competition and specialization, and the athletes compete in Olympic and Paralympic Games only once every four years in their sport.
What is Multi-Class sport?
For school-aged children, there are opportunities for children to compete in their sport through Multi-Class competition. The Multi-Class competition sees athletes with a range of disabilities compete against each other and rankings are determined by calculating the percentage they scored against the baseline for their classification. Most Little Athletics States offer Multi-Class competitions at Carnivals, Regional Championships, Summer/Winter Championships and State Championships. Classified athletes may be eligible to compete in both Multi-Class and non Multi-Class events. They may compete in a combination of both, but not the same event in both classes.
How do I become Classified?
Classification is a process with multiple steps depending on the level of participation desired. Once an athlete is ready and of the right age to start competing in their sport, there are three levels of classification available, provisional, national and international. Athletes can get classified by contacting the National Sports Organization for their sport of interest. Athletes should contact their National Sports Organization a few months before they need their classification. Classification is usually held alongside competitions or held as its own classification day.
The team at Paralympics Australia has created a pathway for classification and to see which sports you are eligible for. Unfortunately, not all disabilities are eligible for classification in all sports. For assistance with the application, speak to your physiotherapist for assistance in provisional assessment of skills and disability.
What is the Special Olympics?
As mentioned, not all disabilities are recognised in paralympic sport. Special Olympics welcomes athletes with intellectual disabilities, of a wide variety of ability levels, to train and compete in 35 sports. To be eligible to participate in Special Olympics, athletes must have an intellectual disability – either a cognitive delay or a development disability, that is, functional limitations in both general learning and adaptive skills – They may also have a physical disability. Special Olympics provides sporting opportunities throughout the year and across the world. And in Special Olympics competitions, it’s a fundamental rule that athletes in competitions are matched up with others of the same competitive ability.
How can I get involved in my community?
Here at Upside, we pride ourselves in having close connections with numerous sporting organisations across the Gold Coast. We love being able to support our clients and others in the community with accessing sport and physical activity. We host sport camps in the school holidays, and collaborate with Queensland sporting organisations to be able to provide children with various disabilities the opportunity to participate in and learn key social and physical skills across numerous sports.
For more information about local community clubs supporting people with disabilities, we recommend reaching out to our team at Upside or checking out Gold Coast Sport and Recreation for the latest information 🙂
