The Telstra Paralympic Education Program is aimed at generating awareness and an understanding that disability does not affect all skills required for successful participation in sport, or any other area of life.
People with disabilities in our community can participate in sport and other community activities with enjoyment and success.
There are five disability groups that compete at the Paralympic Games and they are:
- Amputees
- Cerebral Palsy
- Vision Impaired
- Wheelchairs (spinal cord injury, spina bifida etc)
- Other physical disabilities (Lés Autrés)
When competing in sport for athletes with a disability, athletes are divided into groups known as classifications. Classifications exist to try and group athletes with a similar level of disability against each other.
There are different classification systems for each of the sports.
To learn more about classification, visit the Australian Paralympic Committee website.
Through learning about disabilities, it is hoped that students will gain an understanding to:
- Respect the right of others who hold different values and attitudes from their own
- Increasingly accept responsibility for personal and community health
- Understand the needs of people with special needs and support them
- Understand the value of personal achievements and celebrate them appropriately
- Use a variety of ways to communicate with and within groups
- Identify influences that affect participation in physical activity
- Gain knowledge about disabilities, sport and the fundamentals of the Paralympic movement.
