Disability Sport And Television

This book focuses on the ground-breaking coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games by the UK’s publicly owned but commercially funded Channel 4 network, coverage which seemed to deliver a transformational shift in attitudes towards people with disabilities. It sheds important new light on our understanding of media production and its complex interactions with sport and wider society. Drawing on political economy and cultural studies, the book explores why and how a marginalised group was brought into the mainstream by the media, and the key influencing factors and decision-making processes. Featuring interviews with key people involved in the television and digital production structures, as well as organisational archives, it helps us to understand the interplay between creativity and commerce, between editorial and marketing workflows, and about the making of meaning. The book also looks at coverage of the Rio Paralympics, and ahead to the Tokyo Games, and at changing global perceptions of disability through sport. This is fascinating reading for any advanced students, researchers, or sport management or media professionals looking to better understand the media production process or the significance of sport and disability in wider society.

"With its primary focus on adult athletes in competitions, Disability Sport, Second Edition, contains in-depth coverage of essential issues, including the historical context of disability and sport; the organizations, competitions, and sport opportunities for athletes with disabilities; the international perspective; current challenges and controversies in disability sport; and the coaching and training of athletes with disabilities including sports medicine issues, activity modifications, equipment uses, and even management for both adults and children" --

Through an exploratory and interpretive research method, aimed at assessing media visibility of disability from the perspective of content production and its dissemination, the paper reviews the evolution of media representation of the Paralympic Games and athletes with disabilities during Sochi 2014, Rio 2016, and PyeongChang 2018 global sports events in the daily news programs from the national spanish broadcaster, RTVE.

Using sources from a wide variety of print and digital media, this book discusses the need for ample and healthy portrayals of disability and neurodiversity in the media, as the primary way that most people learn about conditions. It contains 13 newly written chapters drawing on representations of disability in popular culture from film, television, and print media in both the Global North and the Global South, including the United States, Canada, India, and Kenya. Although disability is often framed using a limited range of stereotypical tropes such as victims, supercrips, or suffering patients, this book shows how disability and neurodiversity are making their way into more mainstream media productions and publications with movies, television shows, and books featuring prominent and even lead characters with disabilities or neurodiversity. Disability Representation in Film, TV, and Print Media will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, cultural studies, film studies, gender studies, and sociology more broadly.

Sport is often at the centre of battles for rights to inclusion linked to class, race and gender, and this book explores struggles centred on disability in different cultural settings in Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It challenges oversights and assumptions about the ‘normal’ body, and describes how individual and organizational transformations can occur through sport. The abilities of a person are recognised and placed centre stage - instead of the individual being forgotten, excluded, or placed at the margins simply because they have a disability. National, regional and global change is part of the shift to the rights based approach reflected in the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Making sport inclusive affects the accessibility of facilities, funding, the media, policies, programs, organisations, sponsors and spectators, and at the same time changes the cultural values of the wider society. It also raises issues about competition access and eligibility for ‘different’ and technologically enhanced ‘cyborg’ bodies, and for those most socially disadvantaged. Addressing these questions which ultimately touch on the real meaning of sport can lead to profound changes in people’s attitudes, and how sport is organized locally and globally. Growth in the influential global organisations of the Paralympic Games, Special Olympics and Deaflympics is examined, as is the approach to disability in sport in both advantaged and resource poor countries. The embodied lives of persons with disabilities are explored utilizing new theoretical models, perspectives and approaches. This book was previously published as a special issue of Sport in Society.

Disability sport is a relatively recent phenomenon, yet it is also one that, particularly in the context of social inclusion, is attracting increasing political and academic interest. The purpose of this important new text – the first of its kind – is to introduce the reader to key concepts in disability and disability sport and to examine the complex relationships between modern sport, disability and other aspects of wider society. Drawing upon original data from interviews, surveys and policy documents, the book examines how disability sport has developed and is currently organised, and explores key themes, issues and concepts including: disability theory and policy the emergence and development of disability sport disability sport development in local authorities mainstreaming disability sport disability, physical education and school sport elite disability sport and the Paralympic Games disability sport and the media. Including chapter summaries, seminar questions and lists of key websites and further reading throughout, Sport, Disability and Society provides both an easy to follow introduction and a critical exploration of the key issues surrounding disability sport in the twenty-first century. This book is an invaluable resource for all students, researchers and professionals working in sport studies, disability studies, physical education, sociology and social policy. Nigel Thomas is Head of Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University, UK, where his research focuses on the history, mainstreaming, and media coverage of disability sport. He previously worked for ten years with young disabled people as a sports development officer in local authorities and national governing bodies. Andy Smith is Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport and Exercise at the University of Chester, UK. He is a co-editor of the International Journal of Sport Policy, and a co-author of Sport Policy and Development: A Sociological Introduction, and An Introduction to Drugs in Sport: Addicted to Winning? Both books are published by Routledge (2009).

The London 2012 Paralympic Games - the biggest, most accessible and best-attended games in the Paralympics' 64-year history - came with an explicit aim to "transform the perception of disabled people in society," and use sport to contribute to "a better world for all people with a disability." This social agenda offered the potential to re-frame disability; to symbolically challenge "ableist" ideology and to offer a reinvention of the (dis)abled body and a redefinition of the possible. This edited collection investigates what has and is happening in relation to these ambitions. The book is structured around three key questions: 1. What were the predominant mediated narratives surrounding the Paralympics, and what are the associated meanings attached to them? 2. How were the Paralympics experienced by media audiences (both disabled and non-disabled)? 3. To what extent did the 2012 Paralympics inspire social change? Each section of this book is interspersed with authentic "voices" from outside academia: broadcasters, athletes and disabled schoolchildren.

Historically, very few sport and exercise psychologists and professionals from related fields such as disability and rehabilitation have conducted thorough research on individuals with disabilities engaged in sport and exercise. The tide is turning, however, as growing media attention and familiarity with the Paralympics and the Wounded Warrior Project begins capturing the attention of researchers everywhere. By addressing this gap, Jeffrey J. Martin's compelling Handbook of Disability Sport and Exercise Psychology is one of the first comprehensive overviews of this important and emerging field of study. In this volume, Martin, an accomplished professor of sport and exercise psychology, shines a light on a variety of topics ranging from philosophy, athletic identity, participation motivation, quality of life, social and environmental barriers, body image, and intellectual impairments among many other issues. Based on the author's own experience and insight, a majority of these topic discussions in this volume are accompanied by thoughtful directions for future research and exploration. Designed to spark conversation and initiate new avenues of research, the Handbook of Disability Sport and Exercise Psychology will allow for readers to look outside the traditional literature focusing largely on able-bodied individuals and, instead, develop a much greater perspective on sport and exercise psychology today.

As the number of adaptive sport and recreation programs increases, athletes with disabilities now have more opportunities than ever to participate in sports, recreation, and physical fitness. In response, students pursuing a career in sport management need to be fully prepared to incorporate adaptive sport and recreation into their organizations. Introduction to Adaptive Sport and Recreation is a groundbreaking text designed to address this need. Written and edited by a team of esteemed educators and professionals, this comprehensive textbook offers a broad exploration of sport and recreation for people with disabilities within the framework of sport management. It begins with social and theoretical discussions covering topics such as defining disability, confronting ableism, considering the concepts of inclusion versus integration, and understanding contact theory and social isolation theory. Students are exposed to participation barriers faced by athletes with disabilities and learn about models of disability perception and legal efforts to address disparities (such as the Americans with Disabilities Act). Also discussed are the disability rights movement as well as legal efforts and policies that have affected access to sport and recreation opportunities for people with disabilities. Perhaps the most visible example of adaptive sports is the Paralympic Games. The history of this competition is explored in detail, and the text offers an overview of other elite adaptive global competitions as well. Differences between the Paralympics and the Special Olympics are examined, including their participants, organizational philosophies, and governance. The text explores media coverage of adaptive sports and explains how the stereotypical frames of the past—which often clash with how athletes wish to be presented—are yielding to today’s more empowering and preferred position of viewing participants as athletes. Students will also see how opportunities for adapted sport are expanding. The long-term athlete development (LTAD) model has been applied to adaptive sports at all levels of competition worldwide. A sidebar spotlights efforts made in this area by Swimming Canada. In addition, the benefits and challenges of offering adaptive programs for military populations and young people are discussed. Because the costs associated with adaptive sport programs often exceed those of able-bodied sports, financial considerations are sometimes cited as a barrier. Students will learn about typical expenses for adaptive programs, along with different ways of identifying funding sources. The text concludes with an insightful case study featuring the University of Alabama Adapted Athletics (UAAA) program. This case study offers a managerial perspective on starting an athletics program for athletes with disabilities by exploring all facets, including sports offered, funding, and facilities. Throughout the text, profile sidebars, critical thinking exercises, and key points foster further discussion and enhance understanding of the concepts presented. Introduction to Adaptive Sport and Recreation serves as the authoritative guide to prepare students to integrate adaptive sport and recreation programs in their future work as a sport management professional.

An introduction to the Paralympic phenomenon which explores various key aspects and issues, from the history and development of the Paralympic movement to the economic and social impact of the contemporary Games. It is suitable for those interested in disability sport, sporting mega-events, the politics of sport, or disability in society.