History of Adaptive and Disabled Rights within Society, Thus Creating the Fertile Soil to Grow, Adaptive Sports

Abstract

The history of sports for individuals with disabilities cannot be fully understood without discussing the disabled rights movement history. The disabled rights movement in many ways parallels various civil rights movements of the last 200 years. A series of historic changes took place starting in the late eighteenth century that led to significant advancement in the recognition, acceptance, and civil rights of people with disabilities. In addition, there were several events, organizations, and movements progressing in separate but parallel lanes. These movements converged resulting in a cohesive and mostly seamless pathway from childhood recreation and competition to team play and elite-level completion—from the Special Olympics, to Paralympics, to athletes with bilateral lower extremity limb deficiency competing against able-bodied athletes in the London Olympics in 2014.