Disabled teenagers' experiences of access to inclusive leisure

[antiquity]

July 2002 - Ref 712
Disabled teenagers' experiences of access to inclusive leisure

http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialcare/712.asp

[Katieg]

Thanks for posting this! I had to deal with a lot of these problems myself in the last year, so I can relate.

[antiquity]

You're welcome Katie. I can relate to much of it too since I was socially excluded for most of my adolescence.

[NJenn]

This makes a lot of sense. I remember riding an adapted trike in preschool, and trying to give a regular two-wheeler a shot as a little kid (big disaster), but nothing else. I grew up thinking that physical activity was not for me. I used my gym periods as study hall, and was the proverbial book worm.

When you have a childhood onset disability, recreation = physical therapy, for the most part. So, the point about service providers using adaptive sports as a means to build life skills did ring true for me. I did adaptive horseback riding for a few years when I was little, and I loved it. It was primarily a form of therapy, but I don't remember it as that. I remember it as being really fun, I remember getting to see my friends, and I remember thinking that I was hot stuff because I got to go do something every week that most kids didn't get to do.

I was 26 years old when I finally got on a handcycle for the first time-- that was last summer. It changed my world view a bit, and I'm now pretty serious about going to the gym.

There are more adaptive sports opportunities in the US for kids now than there were when I was a little kid. But in helping parents seek them out, I can tell you that they are still hard to find.

Thanks for posting this!-- and my title was a mistake. Meant to say that I CAN relate.