Abstract
Today, Spain is an advanced country in the field of sport for people with disabilities. Thanks to social movement led by National Blind Organization (ONCE) since the mid-80s, the Paralympic Games in Barcelona in 1992, the birth of the Spanish Paralympic Committee in 1995 and the Paralympic Sport Support Plan (ADOP) by the Government, Spain is a Paralympic power and many athletes with disabilities are socially known and admired people. However, there are yet situations of social and economic discrimination. Surely the media have powerfully influenced for improve the image of these athletes with disabilities, but still they use to give the sport for people with disabilities much less coverage than they give to other sports. From a sociological point of view, the study of sport is consolidating as a scientific area and in recent decades it has highlighted the connections between sport and society in various fields. In particular, sport for people with disabilities has become one of the areas that has evolved, especially in relation to their physical, psychological and social benefits. However, the study area relating adapted sports and mass communication is poorly developed in Spain and the references are still sporadic. The aim of this article is to show the current state of studies on sport for people with disabilities from the point of view of sociology and communication sciences in Spain, as well as the relevance of deepening these studies to achieve understanding and, as far as possible, improve the situation of these people.
Highlights
Sport for the disabled in Spain started to be developed in the late 1950s, when doctors and sports directors of certain healthcare centres and hospitals imitated Ludwig Guttmann’s ideas for the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities.For example, in 1958, Barcelona’s Provincial Government, under the direction of Juan Antonio Samaranch, opened the Hogares Mundet healthcare complex to take in children and young people from the former Casa de la Caridad
Taking into account that the present article tries to show the state of the question of the Spanish sociological research about the sport for people with disabilities and the treatment of this sport by the media, the methodology that has been applied is the one of the bibliographical analyzes, that is to say the revision of the scientific production on this question in this country
The most relevant references on the treatment that the media have given to disability in general and the Paralympic Games in particular, and the most relevant studies on communication and sport produced by Spanish authors, have been used
Summary
Sport for the disabled in Spain started to be developed in the late 1950s, when doctors and sports directors of certain healthcare centres and hospitals imitated Ludwig Guttmann’s ideas for the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities.For example, in 1958, Barcelona’s Provincial Government, under the direction of Juan Antonio Samaranch, opened the Hogares Mundet healthcare complex to take in children and young people from the former Casa de la Caridad. Sport for the disabled in Spain started to be developed in the late 1950s, when doctors and sports directors of certain healthcare centres and hospitals imitated Ludwig Guttmann’s ideas for the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities. The director of sports at the centre at the time, Juan Palau y Francàs, inspired by the philosophy of Doctor Guttmann, fostered the sports activity of young people with disabilities at the Centre, as a large number of the residents were patients with after-effects of poliomyelitis. In the early 1960s, Doctor Ramón Sales Vázquez, director of traumatology of the Francisco Franco residence ( known as Hospital Vall D'Hebrón), applied Guttmann’s idea of rehabilitating young paraplegics by playing basketball in wheelchairs. In view of the competitions’ success, the 1st National Disabled Championships were held in Madrid in 1966, under the name of “Trofeo de la Superación” (Self-Improvement Trophy)
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