In the world of adaptive sport there is constant debate concerning the amount of assistance people with disabilities receive while pursuing recreational activities. As an instructor of adaptive sport, I always consider the least restrictive equipment when deciding how to get an individual involved in adaptive sport. This requires an analysis of what a person is capable of, not what a person is incapable of. It’s a difficult balance to work out and can be the difference between enjoyment of the activity and withdrawal.

Least Restrictive
What does least restrictive equipment mean? In some adaptive recreational pursuits, there are not many options currently for equipment decisions to be made, but in sports like snow skiing, and cycling there are almost too many. The decision options often require seasoned professionals, and tens of thousands of dollars worth of adaptive equipment inventory to create successful outcomes. In snow skiing, if an individual can shift their head from left to right he can assist in controlling the ski on the snow.

However, if you restrict the person’s ability to move head or shoulders from left to right or fore and aft, you have restricted the ability to control the ski as well. The objective, then, is to use equipment that restricts functional movement the least amount, while offering the maximum safety.

Independent  
Many pieces of adaptive equipment have been designed to offer individuals with disabilities complete independence. The equipment has created opportunities for individuals with diverse disabilities to take part in rock climbing, mountaineering, scuba diving, marathons, skiing, paddling and many other recreational pursuits. The amount of independence and individual claims of success are often disputed, which has led to some sports like mountaineering putting definitions on claims.

The rule for climbing is that only 10 percent of the climb can be assisted to receive the claim of independent. This is very similar to the reality of able bodied mountaineering due to the assistance required to maintain individual safety. For example when Sir Edmond Hillary climbed Everest, he depended on the assistance of Tenzing Norgay for success. Why would a person with a disability be required to accomplish such a task completely on his own?

Many times it is not the fault of the individual making the claim due to the difficult nature of finding information about adaptive sports. It often shocks me how many claims are made that in reality are insignificant compared to achievements of individuals having similar disabilities around the world. The shocking part is not the claim, but the amount of effort that goes into the trial without researching what is currently available. Thanks to the Internet, it is slowly becoming easier to learn about recreational equipment and providers of adaptive instruction. The result is fewer people are literally involved in re-creating the wheel.

Supported
Many individuals with disabilities can be independent in one activity while they require support in another. For many there is no less value in an experience that requires support. However, there are those who would rather only do the things they can accomplish independently.

Others like Rick and Dick Hoyt are perfectly happy with supported recreation. Rick was born with cerebral palsy; doctors recommended because of the severity of the disability that Rick be placed into an institution. Years of family support, learning, and competitive activities later; Rick has finished college and the father/son duo has completed together over 940 events, including 216 triathlons, six of those at Ironman distances. The two have fed off of each other’s spirit and shared the sheer enjoyment of participating in activities together for decades.
 
My wife and I often participate in both supported and unsupported activities with equal amounts of joy. One year for her birthday I surprised her with a trip to a bed and breakfast that offered a permit to cut your own Christmas tree. As a surprise, I created a sled and harness system so that we could work together in deep powder through the woods to pick our tree.

I attached a Crazy Creek chair to the sled, which created a secure seat to push off of and a lot of surface area to keep her light on the snow. She truly enjoyed the experience and assisted by pushing with her hands or using collapsible climbing poles. Three sets of soggy gloves and four miles later, she picked out a Christmas tree, cut it down, and enjoyed a toboggan ride down the hill we had just climbed. I used the harness system to drag the tree back. She enjoyed the trip so much that we have repeated it several times since. It is now a holiday tradition; if we do not have time to drive out to pick our own tree, she makes sure we reserve time the next season.

The goal when supporting is for each party to be involved beneficially in the activity. I often attach portable handles to my wife’s wheelchair so that I can assist her when needed, and then remove the handles in areas where assistance is not required. A great example is assisting her back up the hill in New Zealand after she went bungee jumping. I could have pushed her up without the handles, but it was much easier on my body with the use of the handles. I respect her by not using the handles (which actually look odd on the back of her titanium sports chair) in places where she is mobile; on trips where we go off road, she allows me to bring the push handles for my health.

Over-supported
The opposite side of independence is complete dependence. When people are over-supported, they have the ability to assist but the design or nature of the activity requires the individuals to be completely passive during the experience. People may choose to be passive at times, but they should be included to the maximum of their ability whenever possible, using least-restrictive principals.

An example of over-supported adaptive skiing happened at a ski resort where I was teaching. I watched a student come in for a lesson and later on the hill noticed that the instructor was using several pieces of equipment that were unnecessary for the individual’s ability level. When I confronted the instructor on the reasoning he had for using the equipment, his reply was that he had never been able to use the equipment and wanted to learn about it prior to the end of the season. He planned on returning to start an adaptive ski school at his home resort, and it was his goal to use all of the equipment at least once before he left.

This made me extremely angry. How could the instructor feel that it was acceptable to experiment with our clients with disabilities for his personal gain? He completely disregarded the goals and trust of the individual to achieve his own goals. I continue to be unclear on his reasoning for being involved with instruction for individuals with disabilities, but I asked him to think about why it was wrong to use inappropriate equipment for his personal education. He replied that the student would probably not know the difference between that experience and an appropriate one. I just had to walk away at that point and continue to educate him over time.

End Goal
Recreation is always a very individual thing; it doesn’t matter if you have a disability or not. For some, participating in recreational pursuits is how they make their living. That creates a critical nature to sport and again, this does not necessarily change with disability. What does change with disability is the availability of recreation based on individual function. The goal has to be to maximize the level of effort individuals with disabilities give during activity.  

See Related Articles
Learn about other accessible sports and programs for people with disabilities, in Adaptive Adventures for People with Disabilities.

Discover a film about athletes participating in accessible sports, in “Continue” is an Adaptive Sports Movie for Athletes of all Abilities.