A2012-03: Regarding Access to Mainstream Physical Education and Sports Activities

Adopted In : 2012

Topics : Education

WHEREAS, regular physical activity reduces the risk of many diseases and improves physical health and well-being; and

WHEREAS, research has shown that children in the United States generally do not engage in sufficient physical activity to maintain good health, and blind children tend to have even lower levels of physical fitness than their sighted peers; and

WHEREAS, participation in group activities such as competitive sports can often be a strong motivator for people to establish consistent habits of physical activity; and

WHEREAS, blind children in mainstreamed educational settings often experience barriers to full participation in physical education courses or other sports activities both because of low expectations of the physical capabilities of blind people and because of lack of knowledge about the options and techniques which exist; and

WHEREAS, experience has shown that Blind students can participate along with their sighted peers in a variety of sports activities, including track, wrestling, martial arts, and swimming; and

WHEREAS, some sports and games have also been developed specifically to allow blind and sighted players to compete together such as goalball, power showdown and the like; and

WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has worked hard to promote the integration of blind people of all ages into society by developing and raising awareness about nonvisual tools and techniques to allow our full and independent participation in all facets of life; now, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota in convention assembled this twenty-eighth day of October, 2012,  in the city of Duluth, Minnesota, that this organization urge Minnesota schools to ensure that sports activities are available to blind students, beyond adaptive PE, that promote their health, fitness, and integration with their peers.

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