No.48 September 2006 |
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Since its founding by French-speaking leaders from Canada and Belgium
in 1972, the International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity (IFAPA)
has perceived itself as a strong advocate for sport for persons of all
ages with disabilities. Adapted Physical Activity (APA), which includes
sport, physical education, rehabilitation and recreation, has developed
into a profession, a service delivery system and a rapidly growing body
of cross-disciplinary knowledge. Today, regional organizations function
in Asia, Europe, and the USA and are developing in Oceania, South America
and Africa, all of which have elected representatives on the IFAPA Board.
Many countries also have national organizations modeled after IFAPA (e.g.
Brazil, Austria, Thailand). IFAPA is a little known resource to many professionals.
It is hoped that this article will encourage interest in joint research
projects with other ICSSPE organizations and with various sport organizations.
IFAPA Definition of Adaptive Physical Activity (APA)
Definitions are socially constructed, meaning they change over time as
beliefs and attitudes change. Different definitions of APA have thus co-existed
since the 1950s. Following is the definition currently most often used
in international circles.
According to the By-Laws of the International Federation of Adapted Physical
Activity (IFAPA), a member of ICSSPE,
“Adapted physical activity is a cross disciplinary body of knowledge
directed toward the identification and solution of individual differences
in physical activity. It is a service-delivery profession and academic
field of study that supports an attitude of acceptance of individual differences,
advocates access to active lifestyles and sport, and promotes innovation
and cooperative service delivery programs and empowerment systems. Adapted
physical activity includes, but is not limited to, physical education,
sport, recreation, dance and creative arts, nutrition, medicine, and rehabilitation”
(IFAPA, 2004). The IFAPA definition includes several key words,
including some that are not well understood by many (Hutzler & Sherrill,
in press). Cross disciplinary refers to the body of scientific
and practical APA knowledge that applies scholarship in such areas as
lifespan physical activity, human rights and dignity and sport sciences
to disability, person-environment differences and contextual variables
(i.e. the WHO/ICF components) without regard for traditional disciplinary
boundaries. Service delivery (or provision of supports) is the
broad term for the job functions generalist and specialist professionals
perform in inclusive, partially inclusive and separate physical activity
settings in schools, communities and rehabilitation centers. Job functions
requiring adaptation or change competencies to meet the needs and
interests of all include planning (program or individual); assessment;
participation, preparation and paper work related to meetings; teaching,
coaching, counseling and training; evaluation (both formulative and cumulative);
consulting; and advocacy. Advocacy, once associated only with
law, broadly means action directed toward changing beliefs, attitudes,
intentions and behaviors in relation to such causes as accessibility,
inclusion and empowerment. APA’s unique contributions to quality
of life are guiding by its goal of combining everything there is to know
about disability, physical activity and variables that interact with each.
Empowerment, reflecting the relatively
new trend toward self-determination, choice and self-regulation as APA
goals (Reid, 2003) is emphasized in the IFAPA definition along with service
delivery. Empowerment is generally defined as a process through which
individuals gain control over their lives, a sense of power equitable
with others and a feeling of responsibility for self, others and the environment
(Sherrill, 2004). In particular, empowerment refers to participating in
the governance of any organization pertaining to disability, as captured
in the motto “Nothing about us without us” (Charlton, 1998).
Rehabilitative sports in medical settings and their outreach programs
have long been recognized as influential in empowerment (Daniels, 1954;
Guttmann, 1976; Hutzler, 1990; Stafford, 1939). According to Hutzler (1990,
p. 49), “The ideology of empowerment can be implemented in different
settings of disabled sports, either therapeutic, education, recreational,
or competitive.” Inclusion of the word empowerment in the
IFAPA definition is thus extremely important.
Omissions in the IFAPA Definition of APA
The IFAPA definition also has omissions. Because
it is one of the major pillars on which the profession is founded, concern
has been expressed that the concept of lifetime or lifespan does
not appear. This concern is especially important in countries that embrace
APA personnel preparation for and employment with all age groups in the
diverse areas of rehabilitation, recreation, sports and physical education
(DePotter et al., 2003).
Second, the IFAPA definition should perhaps also
indicate that APA is an umbrella term for job functions of professionals
in different settings (e.g. mainstream or inclusive, partially inclusive
and separate). Third, some persons believe that failure to define and
include relevant examples of adaptation in sport and movement environments
is a grave omission (Hutzler & Sherrill, in press). Today adaptation
is generally considered to be change strategies directed toward specific
variables or interacting variables in the sport or movement environment
to enable goal achievement as well as a good feeling about total-self-in-activity.
Contrary to old-time thinking, adaptation is not meant to change the entire
nature of an established sport but rather to change one or two variables,
as needed.
APA Beliefs Concerning Disability
Adapted Physical Activity (APA) or Adapted Physical Education (APE), as
a profession, believes all persons with disability, regardless of severity
of condition, should be provided sport, dance and aquatics experiences
throughout their lifespan. These experiences, when appropriate, should
be the same as those of others in the mainstream. When, however, a person
(with or without a labeled disability) needs help in achieving performance
or participation goals, then adaptation (change strategy) is applied to
one or more of the variables that may act as barriers to success (e.g.
rules, method of instruction, equipment, facilities, size of participating
group).
Traditionally, APA has been associated with disability (or individual
differences in the psychomotor domain), but this set of beliefs may unconsciously
support the
outdated assumption that disability comes from or
is in the individual. Today, APA service providers are changing their
old mindsets to believe that disability is a dynamic combination (or
flow) of person-environment interactions that interfere with performance
and participation. In this contemporary definition, environment
encompasses all variables interacting with persons of different sizes,
shapes and capacities (e.g. social, psychological, ecological, physical,
architectural) in various contexts (e.g. home, school, community and subcomponents
of each). APA, and its school-based component adapted physical education
(APE), thus strive to change the ways physical educators and ordinary
people think about disability. Fundamental to this goal is acceptance
that at least two approaches to defining disability comprise contemporary
philosophy.
The first approach comes from the international medical community and
is primarily for use in diagnosis, classification, treatment and insurance.
The second approach is prominent among persons who dislike labels and
subscribe to humanism (i.e. we are all human, we all fail, we all strive
for personal bests and we all need one another). Now that the WHO conceptualizes
disability as a conglomerate of person-environment interactions affecting
function, the two approaches can be held concurrently. Practice, however,
often lags behind theory, position statements of experts and research
evidence.
References Daniels, A. (1954). Adapted physical education.
New York: Harper & Row.
DePotter, J.C., Van Coppenolle, H., Djobova, S.,
Dobreva, I., Wijns, K., & Van Peteghem, A. (Eds.). (2003). Vocational
training in adapted physical activity. Leuven, Belgium: Thematic
European Network on Adapted Physical Activity (THENAPA).
Guttmann, L. (1976). Textbook of sport for the
handicapped. Aylesbury, England: HM & M.
Hutzler, Y. (1990). The concept of empowerment in
rehabilitative sports. In G. Doll- Tepper, C. Dahms, B. Doll, & H.v.Selzam
(Eds.). Adapted physical activity: An interdisciplinary approach.
Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Hutzler, Y., & Sherrill, C. (in press). Defining adapted physical
activity: International
perspectives. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly. Contact
Dr. Claudine Sherrill International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity (IFAPA) USA Csherrill1@earthlink.net Dr. Yeshayahu Hutzler International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity (IFAPA) Israel Shayke@wincol.ac.il ![]() http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5 |