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In Gabby Vassallo’s words, there is no such thing as “I can’t” or giving up. [[Vah-sah-loh]]vocabulary.
“There’s not much I can’t do. But sometimes I need some support, whether it’s a fix or something. So ‘can’t’ is a word I don’t really like to use. “Because there are limits. There are limits. I don’t mind saying there are limits because you might not be able to do something as well as you used to. You need to do something a little different. Maybe, but for me, the end goal is the same.”
Fifteen years ago, she was riding her bike while training for a triathlon and was hit by a car.
As a result, she suffered a traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury that took months to years to recover from.
During the acute phase of her recovery, she knew that physical activity was a big part of her healing and ultimately her independence.
She found support in Leanne Hassett, a rehabilitation physical therapist. It was the confidence boost she needed.
“With someone like Leanne, who I knew from the early days, I wanted to get back into (the sport) and I know how important that physical activity was to me. Just the physical benefits. But also for my mental health. It has allowed me to pursue sports. If I can achieve these small physical goals, then why not take the next step to the next level? Can’t you take a step – perhaps not running, but do more physical activity, or get a job? You know what I mean? It gives you the confidence to achieve in other areas of your life too. ”
It was difficult at the time to find a modification that would allow him to continue playing the sport, but he used his network to find a solution.
Gabby used a modified bicycle to achieve her goal of completing a triathlon in France.
“Most of my activities are modified. So I ride a modified bicycle. When I play sports, I use modified equipment, like wheelchair basketball or something like that. I’ve done triathlons since the accident, I’ve actually done a few things.” “But ironically, I went back to the Pyrenees to run and did it again on a modified bike.” did.”
These days, she travels about an hour a day, riding around on a modified bike and attending Pilates classes. When time permits, she plans to sign up for a wheelchair basketball team.
She knows that without regular physical activity, her quality of life will be drastically different.
“I really think I’m probably going to be morbidly obese. I’m doped up to my eyeballs with drugs and drugs, so it’s probably going to hurt a lot. For me, in a way, since the pandemic, I’ve been telling people, It’s actually frustrating, but I think you understand what it’s like for people with disabilities. That is always the case.”
These benefits are documented in the first systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of regular physical activity on people with physical or intellectual disabilities.
Associate Professor Leanne Hassett from the University of Sydney’s School of Health Sciences said there were significant barriers. Adults with disabilities are at least twice as likely to be physically inactive than adults in general.
So Hassett wondered what the evidence was on this topic, and whether it could be put together to find a solution.
“Our idea was to look more broadly: for people living with all kinds of physical and intellectual disabilities, no matter what their health condition, sport and physical recreation can be And we’re interested in that, because if it really is, we want to think about some kind of scaling up. There are so many opportunities in the community that perhaps we need to think more broadly about people living with disabilities, rather than just special activities for people with specific health conditions. Yes, this is the first (systematic review).”
This review examined 74 randomized controlled trials involving 2,954 participants. The most common recreational activities assessed included yoga, dancing, and tai chi, which he performed on average twice a week for 6 to 52 weeks.
Gender distribution was approximately even (54% female), and mean age was 55 years. Most participants had physical and intellectual disabilities.
People with physical disabilities had disabilities that could be modified to participate in parasports. People with intellectual disabilities had disabilities that allowed them to participate in the Special Olympics.
Hassett says using Cochrane’s gold standard approach to systematic reviews and meta-analyses allows common conclusions to be drawn.
“We were able to look at a wide range of different outcomes. So we know people’s mobility levels, their quality of life, their ratings of fatigue, depression, anxiety. So we were able to look at those different outcomes. And what we really found is that when people participate in recreational activities, there are benefits across a whole range of outcomes. And we were able to break it down and look at different health conditions. We were also able to look at different types of recreational activities.” Show us a little more where the evidence is strongest. please. ”
She says there are scalable strategies that can be implemented to improve low physical activity rates in the disabled population, which require not only funding within the NDIS system, but collaboration between multiple professions and sectors in the community. states that there is.
“I think if we want to be scalable, we need to create opportunities in the community, and that’s yoga programs. How can we create local neighborhood yoga programs? How can I make sure I can participate?’ Go and participate. I found a lot of very important information, such as the types of ways the classes were modified and the additional equipment required was very minor. Therefore, they may have held the pose for less time. Or it could have been holding a pose. I needed a chair next to me. There were only really small things that needed to be changed. ”
There are organizations across Australia working to increase grassroots participation in adaptive sport and disability sport through training and resources.
Sport Inclusion Australia primarily works with athletes with intellectual disabilities.
Disability Sport Australia works with athletes in wheelchair sports, including people with spinal cord injuries and amputees.
Ayden Shaw is the organization’s general manager.
He said that after the pandemic and with the Paralympics coming up this year, there has been increased interest in promoting disability inclusion and grassroots participation, but there are concerns about how to proceed with this. Ta.
“We have seen disability participation be one of the first to disappear during the COVID-19 pandemic, and chronic health conditions that need to be protected at the time. It’s no surprise that there were a lot of people with disabilities, but what we should do in returning to sport is that many sports prioritize mainstream participation and not necessarily the participation of people with disabilities. It’s not that we’re prioritizing it. It’s a very interesting time in this field. It’s a very interesting time in this field because we’re coming into a Paralympic year that’s going to be a lot of conversation.” over the next 12 months. We will continue. But how do we translate public awareness of disability sport into grassroots participation? ”
The organization says it has found success with training resources for sports clubs and recreation providers on how to get started, including a free online Accessibility Champion course.
Since its launch in December, 508 people (mostly coaches) have joined, and confidence in the field has increased from a low of 20 percent to a high of 90 percent.
“But what we’re seeing is that many sports organizations are realizing the benefits of implementing adaptive programs. I think for a very long time, adaptive sports involve either one It has been said that individuals can progress into the mainstream.” “Either you belong to a club or you have to play separately.The emphasis now is solely on the experience of participating in the sport.” It doesn’t necessarily matter if it’s a segregated or non-separated program, and what that means is that the more coaches understand that, the more confident they become. People with disabilities participate in adaptive sports no different than anyone else. It’s just that people with disabilities may need additional support to be able to participate. And the reality is that the coaching challenges are bigger than they used to be. It was a matter of social attitude. ”
Simon Darcy, a professor of sports management at the University of Technology Sydney, is a quadriplegic and uses a power wheelchair.
He says there are now more options than ever before, but challenges to pursuing a career in sport include access to comprehensive training space and, in some cases, the cost of equipment such as a competition wheelchair. says.
“When people have the right equipment and the right support to participate, it can really change their lives, because we’re so obsessed with sports, people want to belong. And they want to belong to the sport they want to follow, and that sense of belonging may be as a participant, but it may also be as part of a sports family. Whether it’s officiating or volunteering, whatever it is that you happen to want to do, it creates that sense of belonging, and that you’re in this together.” Your flock. ”
He participates in NeuroMoves, an exercise therapy program conducted through telemedicine and home visits at affiliated gyms.
He says the needs were the same across all disability subgroups he studied, including children and people with intellectual disabilities.
“And it also expands your circle of friends. It means that parents of children with disabilities don’t feel isolated, too, as we’ve seen time and time again in our research. I tear up. “They’re trying to give kids a chance at the school they’re going to go to, and the principal is raising the issue of safety and other things. But that’s not true. And we’re seeing big changes in that field with new programs. We’re here to break down some of those barriers. And no matter what happens, join us. We support people who need support.”
Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT launched its website in July 2022, listing more than 150 adaptive activities.
As an ambassador for the website theadaptivemovement.com, Gabby says the website gives people ideas on how to explore the options available to them.
“On this website you can find out what organizations are modifying some sport or activity. So this takes into account that we are no longer as mobile as we used to be. But… You can still play the sport, which is really great.” Good. I wish I had that. This means that you can use it when you get into an accident. It wasn’t, but now it is. After all, it’s better than doing nothing, so I think I’ll start small. “I didn’t do any exercise last week, but this week I took one walk more than last week, which is great. Then I’ll gradually increase it.”
