Inclusive Sport Possibilities: Educational Study on Paracanoe

Abstract

Sport is increasingly recognized as an instrument to promote social inclusion values. Some of our motor learning moments, physical, psychomotor and sportive activities, could help people with disabilities as a stimulus to regain the lost or ever developed capacity. People with disabilities can use sport as a tool to have a better control of their body and to improve their own identity through sports competitions, resulting in an increased self-esteem. Several sports have moved to this dimension and one among them is Paracanoe, which is canoeing for athletes with physical impairments. Paracanoe events will also debut at the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games at Rio de Janeiro. This paper aims to investigate the benefit of canoe sports for people with disabilities, with particular attention to the processes to enhance inclusion. A pedagogical qualitative research was conducted through a questionnaire, administrated to the athletes of the National Italian Paracanoe Team and through face-to-face interviews. The study intend to highlight the strong inclusive nature of this sport (where each athlete feels abled-bodied) in addition to physical benefits, in line with the scientific literature

Keywords

• Inclusion, Paracanoe, disability sports, special education

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