Volunteers

 

 

Volunteer Handbook

 

  

DISABILITY INFORMATION

Some athletes have a congenital disability (i.e., born with their disability) while others may have an acquired disability (i.e., due to an accident, injury or illness).

There are four (4) general disability groups as outlined below.

Amputee and Les Autres form one group but are broken down separately here.

• Arm or leg or single, double or multiple amputations
• Combination / variation of wheelchair users, crutch users, artificial limb users
• Athletes also fall into this group when they do not fit into the classification(s) of other groups (e.g., athletes with dwarfism, Athroygryposis, etc.)

 

Athletes using wheelchairs

• Paraplegic, tetraplegic and quadriplegic
• Spinal bifida (a congenital form of paraplegia) – some of whom use crutches in their daily mobility but all of whom compete in wheelchairs

 

Athletes with Cerebral Palsy (CP)

• Other athletes with CP may use wheelchairs, canes, crutches or have Service Dogs
• Some require the assistance of attendants
• Sometimes the disability is difficult to detect
• At times, traditional methods of communication are challenged and assistive technologies are used (e.g., computerized communication)

 

Athletes with Blindness / Visual Impairment

• Some athletes have attendants (human guides)
• Some athletes require the use of white canes
• Some athletes have Guide Dogs
• Yes, the blind do indeed lead the blind (athletes with less impaired vision often lead fellow teammates; sometimes there is a train of athletes)
• Sometimes the disability is really difficult to detect

 

Note: Many athletes will bring extra wheelchairs / crutches / artificial limbs needed for sport-specific uses.

 

SENSITIVITY INFORMATION

6 Barriers to people with disabilities:

• Architectural Barrier
• Attitudinal Barrier
• Physical Barrier
• Policy / Practice Barrier
• Information of Communication Barrier
• Technological Barrier

 

Person First or Preferred Language and Terminology

Words to Avoid:

• Afflicted, Suffer, Sufferer, Victim, Confined, Handicapped, Crippled, Crazy, Electric Chair, Insane, Normal
• Also avoid using “the”. (E.g., “The” disabled; this categorizes people into one experience. Everyone is an individual, whether or not they are people with disabilities.)

 

Instead of...	Use...
birth defect	congenital disability
blind people	visually impaired	Some may be partially sighted, visually impaired, or have low vision; partially blind
brain-damaged	person with a brain injury
confined to a wheelchair or wheelchair bound	person who uses a wheelchair or wheelchair user	A wheelchair provides mobility for persons who cannot walk. It is not confining
crazy or insane	person with a mental illness
crippled	person with a disability	or be more specific; e.g., person/he/she walks with crutches or leg braces or uses a mobility aid
disabled athlete	athlete with a disability
electric wheelchair	power chair / power wheelchair
handicap	person with a disability
MS person	person who has MS or multiple sclerosis
Normal	able-bodied, temporarily able-bodied, or non-disabled;	or be specific with such terms as sighted, ambulatory
physically challenged	person with a physical disability