[5-Part Article Series]
People with physical disabilities hold limited positions as scholars, teachers, or leaders in physical education, recreation, and sport. Perhaps the reason is that the field is flooded with able-bodied people who think they know best. But do they? Michael Oliver, imminent writer, and scholar argued that people with physical disabilities should be the only ones in the field of disability studies because they have a bodily experience with disabilities. The following five-part article series shares the perspective of a scholar in the field of disability sports who has her own physical limitations. In each article, she discusses a different issue a person with a physical disability faces in the profession of physical education, recreation, and sport.
Part I: Don’t Judge Me By My Gait
I once sat in a professional meeting where leading authorities in the field said, “People with physical disabilities should not be physical education teachers because able-bodied students cannot relate to them.” Able-bodied people assume people with physical disabilities cannot teach or coach. Not true, people with physical disabilities can be good coaches, teachers, and athletes. And most importantly abled-bodied students can relate to the population. I have a physical limitation and I am an educator and scholar in physical education, recreation, and sport.
