Adaptive sports and the Paralympic Games

The combination of terms “limited mobility” is pretty much self explanatory. And most of the time it leads to a not too physically active life for most of us, which is so bad for our health. The good news is that there are tons of sports designed for people with limited mobility, and depending on the way your limbs are affected, you should have enough choices. It’s a great way to pass the time, it will improve your health and it will give you a sense of achievement, making you feel more independent, it will reduce your stress level by making your brain release more endorphins, it will reduce the pain and many more awesome benefits. Who knows, maybe we will even see you at the Olympics! So let’s take a look at 3 of the most well known options. Hopefully this post will help you decide what you should start with.

1. Paralympic Swimming

As the name states, it is a sport governed by the International Paralympic Committee, so it’s also part of the Paralymic games. But of course, it can be practiced by anyone and at any level (starting with beginner, of course). Physical disabilities of Paralympic swimmers include single or multiple limb loss (through birth defects and/or amputation),cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries (leading to paralysis or disability in limb coordination), dwarfism, and disabilities which impair the use of joints. So if you think this is the right sport for you, stop wondering how you’ll manage to not drown due to the limited mobility of your limbs, and start looking for a place where you can safely practice it. Swimming is great! And you’ll be less scared of boat rides too!
Famous athlete: Eleanor May Simmonds (photo), is a British Paralympian swimmer competing in S6 events. She came to national attention when she competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, winning two gold medals for Great Britain, despite being the youngest member of the team, at the age of 13. In 2012 she was again selected for the Great Britain squad, this time swimming at a home games in London. She won another two golds in London, including setting a World Record in the 400m freestyle.


2. Wheelchair racing

We have marathons, car racing, motorbike racing… so why not wheelchair racing? Even though the racing wheelchair may look slightly different from what you’re used with… but if you’re bound to use one and think that your arms and spirit are strong enough for the competition, why not look into it? Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted (when combined with another disability). Athletes are classified in accordance with the nature and severity of their disability or combinations of disabilities. Like running, it can take place on a track or as a road race. The main competitions take place at the Summer Paralympicswhich wheelchair racing and athletics has been a part of since 1960. Competitors compete in specialized wheelchairs which allow the athletes to reach speeds of 30 km/h or more. It is one of the most prominent forms of Paralympic athletics.
Famous athlete: David Russell Weir (photo), CBE (born 5 June 1979) is a British Paralympic wheelchair athlete. He has won a total of six gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games, and has won the London Marathon on six occasions. He was born with a spinal cord transection that left him unable to use his legs.


3. Wheelchair Basketball

If you’re a fan of basketball and wish that you could practice it, there actually is a version of it which can be practiced by people in wheelchairs. The rules are pretty much the same and it is as dynamic as you would expect basketball to be. Wheelchair basketball sees tremendous competition and interest on the international level. Wheelchair basketball is included in the Paralympic Games. The Wheelchair Basketball World Championship is organized two years after every Paralympic Games. Major competition in wheelchair basketball comes from Canada, Australia, the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Japan.
Famous Athlete: Ade Adepitan (photo) MBE (born 27 March 1973) is a British television presenter and wheelchair basketball player. He uses a wheelchair as a result of contracting polio as a child which led to the loss of use of his left leg. Adeptitan is an accomplished wheelchair basketball player, for his club Milton Keynes Aces and as a member of Great Britain team that won the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens and the gold medal at the 2005 Paralympic World Cup in Manchester, United Kingdom.

Reduced mobility: Putting on socks, shoes, and fastening laces without using your hands

So now that we took the introduction out of the way, let’s get to a problem which a lot of people with reduced mobility face every day: gaining independence. Sure, in some cases gaining 100% independence is impossible and we still need someone to assist us with some tasks, but if there are things we can do on our own, it will improve our lives so much and our self confidence too!

Getting dressed can be quite a challenge for some of us. Hands and arms reduced mobility, weak muscles, legs which don’t bend and the reduced ability to bend down because of the medical condition we are dealing with. All of these can be things which make getting dressed on your own sometimes impossible.

In my case, my legs don’t bend and I can’t bend down myself due to severe scoliosis. I could always get dressed (even though I strain my back a lot), but when it came to socks and shoes, I would surrender without a second thought. So upon my decision of moving out of my parents house for studies, I had to find a solution to a problem which seemed to have no way of getting solved: I need hands to get my socks and shoes on, and my hands won’t go that far. But wait! You can actually do this without hands. How? I will explain further.

After talking to some wonderful people who are dealing with the same issues as I do + further research, I came up with a system for hands-free socks and shoes with laces which require no fastening. It will require some shopping but it’s nothing too expensive and it will be so worth. Also, the stick I’m using for the shoes can be used for getting dressed as well without major effort! I am only using sneakers and any sort of shoes which need laces, because my feet are weird and shoes will escape with any occasion. So to avoid frustrating events and having to awkwardly ask people to pick up my rebel shoe from the ground, I like to keep them nicely and tightly wrapped around my foot. If you don’t need laces, then the first part should work just fine if you are still having trouble putting on socks and shoes.

The things and method which I am going to post works for me like a charm, but depending on your condition and mobility/muscle strength, you might want to do more research and look for different similar items to aid yourself. Contact me and I will personally help you find a solution tailored to your needs, as much as I can.

For the socks, you only need one item: a stocking aid. You need to find the model which suits you the best. I have this simple model I purchased from Amazon for £4: Sock and stocking aid - Mobility Aid (this is from Amazon UK but you can find very similar products on Amazon US as well) . Just roll the sock on it and pull it up your feet. It works great for hands with reduced mobility too, you can just put your hands through the loops at the end of the handles. It’s also super resistant.

Anyway, back to my shoes system! What you need:

1. A dressing stick. My choice was this simple Aidapt Dressing Stick which was only £5 on Amazon UK. It’s also amazing for grabbing my clothes from wherever they are without having to stand up, hooking my pants and pulling them up from a fair distance. No back straining, no worries.
2. Lock Laces. These things were designed for running and sports but ironically they can be a true blessing for those of us who can’t even walk properly. Just set them up into your sneakers and get to the next step!

Now, what I do is pretty simple. Note that for the first step, some sneakers might not have the little piece of fabric in the back, which I use for hooking the sneakers with the dressing stick. But you can easily grab a needle and some fabric and sew something small and subtle on the inside of the shoe, but careful to make it strong enough to hold the pulling. So to the steps:

1. Hook your shoe with the dressing stick like in the picture. Drag it in front of your foot and try to guide it carefully and slip your foot in it. For me it’s a bit hard to do sometimes, since my feet have a strange shape, so depending on your feet it may need a bit of pulling. Worry not that the hook will break, it’s actually really strong!
2. So now that you have the foot inside the shoe, here comes the tricky part. Take the stick and hold it upside down, with the hook towards your shoes. Then slowly hook the laces starting from the bottom and pull, to fasten them. When you reach the top, just hook it and pull hard to reach your other hand. Hold it tight, and with the other end of the stick just push back the locking part, until it reaches the shoe. Let it go from your hand, then try to tuck the hanging part of the lace with the stick. This part can be tricky but it’s ok to leave it hanging too if it’s not too long. It actually looks quite fancy.

I'm very sorry for the pictures quality, I will try to change them when I have better light and someone to hold the stick or the shoe for me, it was quite hard to do it on my own.

So now you have your shoes and you’re ready to go. And you did it all by yourself! I know the first time I did it I felt like I have achieved something amazing. Which sounds funny because it’s normally such a simple task. But hey, the idea is to adapt and this is what we do here!

And when you want to take off your shoes, just use the other end of the dessing stick. Slip it between your shoe and foot and push. Off it goes with one move!

I would love to hear opinions and other methods. Also, I’d be very happy if you decide to post here if you tried it and it works fine for you. Don’t hesitate to ask me questions, I’d be happy to offer more support if I can!

Seeing your situation realistically without demonizing it

I’m bad with titles but I hope you got the idea. Each and every one of us sees their life and situation in a certain way and we often tend to exaggerate it in a direction or another.

There are the people who see it as a blessing and a gift. Sure you would think this is a great way of dealing with it, but this way of thinking often leads the person into feeling superior and “special”. As I was saying before, no we are not special. This is our reality and it is the same reality around everyone else, we just do things differently. Our goal is to have a life as close to normal as possible. If you consider yourself some sort of elite and then complain about not having friends and blaming it on your disability, you may think again about it and reconsider your attitude towards others. We are all equal, we are not gifted, we are not blessed; at least not from this point of view. You may be gifted and blessed with a great sense of humor, musical talent, a high IQ, but not blessed with a medical condition. I’m sorry for being bluntly honest, but this way of thinking and acting won’t bring along anything good on the long run.

Then there are the people (most of the people) who are horribly unhappy with their situation and spend their lives crying and being depressed. It is normal to feel this way at times, but being always upset over it won’t make it better. It doesn’t help you or anyone around you. It makes you become unmotivated and you will literally waste your life just sitting and pitying yourself. Sure we all wish we didn’t have to deal with this, but it is what it is. Better think of all the things you can actually do? There is something for everyone, especially in this day of technology. Focus more on your family and job/school, get a hobby, learn a new skill (lots of online free learning websites for anything you can possibly think of). These things will make you feel like you are truly accomplishing something and not waste your life thinking of how your life would be if you were healthy.

I will at some point in the future make a big blog post regarding the many disabled people who changed the world one way or another. They found their way in life and if they could, then why couldn’t you? To give a fast example now, you all heard of Stephen Hawking. He’s brilliant and has achieved so so much. You don’t need a healthy body to reach the sky.

Also, no matter how rare or impossibly to fix disability you have, never stop checking the news in the medical field. The progress is so fast and mind blowing, in a few years we will be able to fix almost anything. Join communities, subscribe to websites, check news. Maybe the day will come. Never stop hoping and try to keep a realistic view on the things.