| In years past, a serious physical disability | | | | II veterans. According to the Paralympic |
| meant unemployment, isolation, and inactivity | | | | Games website, participating athletes |
| for many thousands of people. | | | | compete in a variety of sports based on one |
| | | | of six disability-based classifications: |
| No longer. While the Americans with | | | | amputee, cerebral palsy, spinal cord |
| Disabilities Act has opened up the workplace | | | | injuries, visual impairment, intellectual |
| and public facilities to people with | | | | disability, and a general group including |
| disabilities, many organizations around the | | | | individual disabilities which do not fit into |
| country have sprung up, offering access to | | | | one of the other five categories. |
| sports programs both for wheelchair-bound | | | | |
| individuals and amputees with artificial | | | | Both summer and winter sports competitions |
| prosthetic devices. Disabled people are | | | | give disabled athletes the change to compete |
| experiencing the joy of participating in | | | | in a variety of sports; the list of summer |
| Alpine and cross-country skiing, all kinds of | | | | sports includes 21 different competitive |
| water sports from swimming to sailing to | | | | sports, ranging from archery and cycling to |
| scuba diving, and even more extreme sports | | | | equestrian, powerlifting and judo. Five |
| such as mountain climbing and sky diving. | | | | competitions designed specifically for |
| | | | wheelchair-bound athletes include basketball, |
| The importance of both competitive and | | | | dancing, fencing, rugby, and tennis. The list |
| recreational sports for individuals with | | | | of winter sports is smaller, but no less |
| disabilities can't be overestimated. | | | | challenging: athletes can compete in either |
| Particularly for formerly able-bodied people | | | | Alpine or Nordic skiing, ice sledge hockey, |
| who find themselves disabled, sports can | | | | and wheelchair curling. |
| serve as a tremendous motivation in the | | | | |
| rehabilitation process and can help alleviate | | | | Children with physical disabilities have |
| the depression, confusion, and loss of | | | | special challenges; they're dealing with |
| self-esteem that often accompanies a | | | | sometimes substantial limitations at the same |
| debilitating injury. For those born with a | | | | time that they are meeting all the other |
| serious disability, sports can serve as an | | | | demands of becoming competent, balanced, |
| important way of connecting to the "abled" | | | | emotionally and mentally healthy human |
| world. | | | | beings. The National Sports Center for the |
| | | | Disabled (NSCD) offers opportunities for |
| Competitive sports for the disabled are | | | | children to take part in a wide range of |
| experiencing phenomenal success. The | | | | sports activities, from skiing, ski racing, |
| world-wide organization now known as the | | | | snowboarding and snowshoeing in the winter to |
| Paralympic Games was founded in Rome, Italy, | | | | rafting, horseback riding, and in-line |
| in 1960, inspired by a 1948 competition | | | | skating in the summer. |
| organized in England for disabled World War | | | | |