Abstract
<p class="Keywords">Inspired by ideas of able-mindedness, this study explored athletes’ experiences of participation in disability sports. The athletes included were active members in sports clubs targeting people with intellectual disability. The study focused on their perspectives on and understanding of participation, as well as on their accounts of positioning and self-identification, in disability sports. In all, 17 athletes were interviewed. Using thematic analysis, three themes were singled out: identity construction and positioning, the (dis)able-minded athlete and facilitation of participation through others. The results show that participation influences identity construction and is a basis for a common athletic identity. This study offers important knowledge for the facilitation of participation and for the elucidation of able-mindedness in disability sports.
Highlights
Sports involve large segments of the world’s population—that is, people with different backgrounds, motivations and abilities
Studies show that people with intellectual disability (ID) have been excluded from sports activities (Hassan et al 2012) and have far from equal opportunities to participate in sports
The inclusion criteria were that the athletes were active members of sports clubs targeting people with ID and were registered with the Sports Confederation (SSC) and the Sports Confederation (SPSC) (Being part of a sports club targeting people with ID presupposes a diagnosis of ID, and the SPSC defines ID as difficulties in handling everyday life due to reduced intellectual, adaptive and cognitive abilities [SPSC, 2016])
Summary
Sports involve large segments of the world’s population—that is, people with different backgrounds, motivations and abilities. Studies show that people with intellectual disability (ID) have been excluded from sports activities (Hassan et al 2012) and have far from equal opportunities to participate in sports. Research on disability sports participation among athletes with ID and on the role played by sports activities in their participation in wider society remains limited (Pack, Kelly & Arvinen-Barrow 2017). In Sweden, most sports targeting people with ID are organised within the Swedish Para Sports Confederation (SPSC). Regardless of whether athletes are involved in leisure or professional sports or in sports targeting people with or without ID, performances and able-bodiedness are inherently present and achievements are displayed for others to judge and criticise (Apelmo 2012b; Smith et al 2015)
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