Exploring Attitude Change and Experiences of Undergraduate Students in a Goalball and Sitting Volleyball Focused Paralympic Skill Lab

Abstract

ABSTRACT Rooted in contact theory, the Paralympic Skill Lab (PSL) program is designed to guide participants toward recognizing and understanding the experiences of disabled people to support new pathways of thought and changed attitudes. The purpose of this inquiry was to explore the experiences of college students in a goalball and sitting volleyball focused PSL program and their attitudes and perceptions about disability and disability sport. This study utilized an experiential qualitative approach. Participants were fifty-seven college students who took part in a PSL event. Data were collected via reflective writing responses. Written materials were analyzed inductively using a three-step process: immersion in the data, bracketing the data, and determining emergent themes. Analysis revealed three themes related to the participants’ experiences during the PSL event (a)“I realized that there was no need for having low expectations for Paralympic athletes:” Breaking down bias, ;(b) “It made them real people, with real thoughts and real beliefs:” Humanizing through contact, and (b) “My closed-minded thinking thought they all would have a prosthetic leg or have a mind disease:” Deconstructing assumptions. The findings support the value of PSL as a mechanism for learning and engagement through experience, with clear implications for practice. Future research should explore different types of Paralympic activities offered in the PSL program.