"I forget I have a disability": Understanding young peoples’ experiences in disability sport and active recreation in Aotearoa New Zealand

McBean, Catriona Lisa

"I forget I have a disability": Understanding young peoples’ experiences in disability sport and active recreation in Aotearoa New Zealand

dc.contributor.advisor	Petrie, Kirsten Culhane
dc.contributor.advisor	Townsend, Robert C.
dc.contributor.author	McBean, Catriona Lisa
dc.date.accessioned	2023-02-13T23:35:12Z
dc.date.available	2023-02-13T23:35:12Z
dc.date.issued	2023
dc.date.updated	2023-02-13T22:25:35Z
dc.description.abstract	In Aotearoa NZ, although 1 in 4 people identify as disabled, participation rates of young people with impairments (YPwI) in sport and active recreation is lower than their non-disabled peers. Over the last 85 years, the Aotearoa NZ Government has been aware of this disparity and has attempted through policy intervention to increase participation. However, the Aotearoa NZ sport system is inherently ableist and these policies have been ineffectual. Fortunately, opportunities for YPwI to participate in sport and active recreation do exist especially at the local club level. Drawing on the social relational model of disability, I give agency to the voices of four YPwI, their parents and coaches/leaders. Through their lived experiences in sport and active recreation, these participants present unique narratives on how participating with non-disabled young people have shaped the YPwI’s experiences. From their experiences, I sought to understand how sport organisations can improve opportunities for YPwI’s participation within a sport system dominated by ableism and where discrimination through disablism goes unchallenged. The sport system, as a reflection of society, has a responsibility to address the inherent ableism endemic within sport and active recreation and reposition disability as a priority. Building on previous research focused on personal and societal barriers and constraints to participation, I challenge the dominance of activity adaptation and modification as a means for systemic change. To achieve an anti-ableist sport system, what is needed is more fundamental – an improved understanding of disability, flexibility around prescriptive ableist standards and rules, and increased accessibility to opportunities where YPwI can exhibit their capabilities. Integral to providing quality opportunities for YPwI, change in how the sport system considers and represents YPwI, from policy through to practice. I caution organisations to avoid enlightened ableism – where what is said and what is done are misaligned. I present an anti-ableist framework, co-created with the YPwI, as a way of improving disability sport provision in Aotearoa NZ that enables the social relational model to be actualised within a sport and active recreation context. The framework presented encapsulates three levels – individual, organisation and system – premised on enhancing the knowledge and understanding of disability, creating more flexibility around what participation means to YPwI and how deliverers of sport and active recreation, regardless of size or capacity, can work individually and/or collaboratively to provide more opportunities for YPwI.
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10289/15535
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher	The University of Waikato
dc.rights	All items in Research Commons are provided for private study and research purposes and are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
dc.subject	Disability sport
dc.subject	Anti-ableism
dc.subject	Anti-ableist
dc.subject	Ableism
dc.subject	Sport
dc.subject	Aoteroa New Zealand
dc.subject	Active recreation
dc.subject	Disability
dc.subject.lcsh	Sports for people with disabilities -- New Zealand
dc.subject.lcsh	Youth with disabilities -- Recreation -- New Zealand
dc.subject.lcsh	Physical education for children with disabilities -- New Zealand
dc.subject.lcsh	Sports for children with disabilities -- New Zealand
dc.subject.lcsh	Discrimination against people with disabilities -- New Zealand
dc.subject.lcsh	Sports administration -- New Zealand
dc.subject.lcsh	Sports personnel -- New Zealand -- Attitudes
dc.subject.lcsh	Athletes with disabilities -- New Zealand -- Attitudes
dc.subject.lcsh	Coaches (Athletics) -- New Zealand -- Attitudes
dc.subject.lcsh	Parents of children with disabilities -- New Zealand -- Attitudes
dc.subject.lcsh	Athletes with disabilities -- New Zealand -- Social conditions
dc.title	"I forget I have a disability": Understanding young peoples’ experiences in disability sport and active recreation in Aotearoa New Zealand
dc.type	Thesis
pubs.place-of-publication	Hamilton, New Zealand	en_NZ
thesis.degree.grantor	The University of Waikato
thesis.degree.level	Doctoral
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)