Magic Carpet Ride: A Narrative Exploration of Disability and Adaptive Physical Activity

Abstract

Using a narrative approach framed by social constructionism, we partnered with an adaptive physical activity (PA) program to explore the underlying meanings constructed around disability and the adaptive PA experience for individuals with a broad array of disabilities, including cognitive/intellectual, neurological, and developmental and physical. In doing so, we were able to gain new and more inclusive perspectives on the pathways between adaptive PA and health. Our results showed that the partnering adaptive PA program and its volunteers adhered primarily to a quest narrative, which was often taken up and reproduced by the adaptive PA participants and their families. The quest narrative allowed for the individuals with disabilities to reframe their sense of self-identity, revise meanings around their disability, and connect on a deeper level to the world around them, all of which led to increased feelings of joy, freedom, transformation, hope, and overall improved health-related quality of life.