Making Athletics Accessible in Thailand

PROVO, Utah – Dec 4, 2009 – While many children pass the time playing sports and games, others look on from the sidelines. Although this is a harsh reality for millions of children with disabilities around the world, one Brigham Young University professor is out to prove it doesn't have to be that way, having recently travelled to Bangkok, Thailand, to help provide a solution.

"Unfortunately, people with disabilities have more barriers to employment, transportation, communication, and even sports and recreation," says Neil Lundberg, professor of recreation management and youth leadership. "Adaptive sports are one technique to break down those barriers."

Lundberg went to Thailand to help university professors and school program directors develop college-level curriculum and a professional association for people interested in therapeutic recreation and adaptive sports.

Adaptive sports are activities that have been modified to allow people with a wide variety of disabilities to participate, including sports like wheelchair rugby and hand biking. These activities are part of the larger field of therapeutic recreation, which uses sports, games and other recreational activities to help people overcome challenges.

Traveling to Thailand was an exciting opportunity to talk about adaptive sports because so many people take for granted their ability to play, Lundberg says. However, the benefits of playing sports and games go beyond physical exercise.

"When you're good at a sport or other activity that you enjoy, it lends a sense of meaning to you," he continues. "Adaptive sports allow people with disabilities that same opportunity — to be good at something and enjoy others'company."

Adaptive sports can also benefit the country by more fully integrating every member of society, Lundberg notes.

"They begin to see that, through sports, people with disabilities can significantly contribute," he says. "By seeing them as successful leaders, organizers and advocates, it begins to develop a concept that you can still be a major contributor to society even with a disability."

Lundberg's trip was sponsored by the National Ability Center, a nonprofit group based in Park City, Utah, which serves individuals with disabilities by providing adaptive sports and therapeutic recreation. Lundberg has worked with the center previously to bring adaptive sports to other countries, including Spain, Chile and Japan. These programs have successfully helped people with disabilities participate in sports and are helping these countries become more accessible generally.

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems, entrepreneurship, and recreation management and youth leadership. The school's mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,300 students are enrolled in the Marriott School's graduate and undergraduate programs.