Abstract
This chapter traces the history of the involvement of athletes with intellectual disabilities within parasport. There are two main organisations supporting these athletes, the Special Olympics and the International Association for Para-athletes with Intellectual Disabilities (INAS). The origins and different purposes of these organisations are described. The reasons for the exclusion, and then re-inclusion, of athletes with intellectual disabilities in the Paralympics are detailed, including a review of the research which has taken place to support new approaches to eligibility and classification for this group. This work has opened a rich area for future research regarding the relationship of cognitive skills to sports performance and the chapter details this potential and future developments post the Rio Games.
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Notes
- 1.
This is to distinguish between acquired neurological damage after the developmental period. Rehabilitation after the acquisition of skills commonly has a different trajectory and outcomes compared to damage incurred early in development.
- 2.
Records as of May 2015.
- 3.
That is, performed in a relatively controlled environment, stable and predictable, and implicates only a small set of prescribed cognitive skills.
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Burns, J. (2018). Intellectual Disability, Special Olympics and Parasport. In: Brittain, I., Beacom, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Paralympic Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47901-3_19
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