The world watched as Oscar Pistorius eased his prosthetic racing legs into the starting blocks on the track at the Olympics last summer, taking the first steps to making history as the first amputee to race with “able-bodied” competitors.
Many watched out of curiosity, having never seen it done. Some with disabilities watched because, with every step, he was bringing their dreams closer to reality.
National education leaders, in reiterating a message already cemented by the Rehabilitation Act, told colleges in January they needed to be working on creating sports programs or adapting current ones to provide an equal opportunity for students with disabilities to play.
With implementation of programs that include disabled athletes harkening back to the days of Title IX, where some men’s sports were shelved to cover new costs for adding women’s athletics, proponents say the costs in many cases are minimal, and the benefits are much more far-reaching than could be imagined.
“Sports can provide invaluable lessons in discipline, selflessness, passion and courage, and this guidance will help schools ensure that students with disabilities have the equal opportunity to benefit from the life lessons they can learn on the playing field or on the court,” says Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a release in late January.
The guidance letter was meant as a reminder that students with disabilities have a right, under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, to an equal opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities at their schools. According to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, many schools are not affording students with disabilities access to the health and social benefits of athletic participation.
Jaunelle White, the director of compliance for athletics at Texas Southern University, says conversations have been had about the directives from the Department of Education, but little has been done in the way of work toward adapting programs to accommodate students with disabilities. Others at different schools across the country have said the same thing.
