Accommodations for Disabled HS athletes

[wrathofkuus]

I'm confused. Don't high school sports require tryouts, such that (for example) the slower swimmers wouldn't even make the team in the first place? That being the case, isn't it already some hellefied special treatment that she's even on the team? Is she truly asking for more special treatment?

[Deleted]

That's what I'm wondering, kuus but I thought maybe that made me a hosebeast.

Then I thought, does she want a special lane at the summer olympics too and decided I am a hosebeast.

[Deleted]

Exactly.

She seems to be conflating special accomodations with wish fulfillment.

[PinkSquirrel]

I'm not seeing why it's a big deal for them to do this. Adding an extra heat doesn't hurt anyone. If you limit it to 100 yard events then you're talking about a total of 16 minutes added to the end of the day (for heats of both men and women individually, but often their seasons and meets are separate). At least around me, it's not like high school swimming is a big deal within the larger swimming community, it's more a fun thing on the side for many competitive swimmers.

[wrathofkuus]

I think it's less a matter of whether they can, more one of if/why they should.

[BigTGuest]

In CA for swimming and track there are no team post seasons, like SBP said you either have to make top 3 in your league in your event (leagues are typically 4-8 schools) or have a qualifying time/distance (for leagues that are stacked).

If you don't make top 3 or a qualifying time/distance you don't move on.

I could see if there were enough participation adding a disability division to the state championship but you'd probably skip the qual tiers and just go on to state.

[Deleted]

Does it cost money though on some level or keep adding heats just to make people feel good in their feel good places?

[emilyj]

Here's what makes this sticky with me:

"Swimming with her teammates for much of the season and then not being allowed to join them in the post-season is a letdown, Mary Kate said. "We put in just as much effort as everyone else and we're all kind of cut off at a certain point in the season," she said."

Well, yeah. As you pointed out sbp, that's kind of the way it goes in swimming (and track, and gymnastics, and cross country...) Just because you put in the effort doesn't guarantee you swimming in the state meet.

I'm really torn on this - I have never seen an accommodation for a disabled athlete at a high school or collegiate championship meet. And as much of a shithead as it's going to make me sound like, I think I'm going to come down on there shouldn't be one made for the championship meet. The point of the championship meet is for the best in the state. If you want to compete in the championship meet and you are disabled, then maybe the solution is to hold a separate state meet for students with disabilities.

[UMaineTeach]

I think if she makes the team she can compete.

If she had prosthetic legs/feet that she moved under her own power I would let her compete with them or unaided as she does now - if she is good enough to make the team

I would not let her compete with motorized devices.

I don't get this BS about her going to the meets and swimming for fun. Join the Y.

[Deleted]

That's exactly what I thought. Not a good idea in a climate that's hurting for money, particularly when there are other means of competing for her if she doesn't otherwise qualify.

I suppose I can understand wanting to compete with non-disabled persons but that doesn't mean she's being discriminated against here.

[terpsfan]

"Goldstein argues that adding heats for disabled swimmers in championships wouldn't be any more difficult than creating different races for smaller schools or separating boys and girls into different races."

If she is essentially swimming as "exhibition" during meets, how does he suggest they determine which disabled athletes get to participate in his proposed solution? All of them? That would add hours onto a already long event.

I'd be curious to see how the other states who do have provisions in place handle this.

[wrathofkuus]

"I guess I don't understand why the whole "I want to swim for fun at a meet that is highly competitive and scored" is something that is either (a) a disability accommodation or (b) a reasonable request."

That is the point that seems to be getting lost both here in this thread, and apparently in real life where this is an issue.

[charminglife]

Unless the cut-off times for the state meet are so low that every swimmer, other than the disabled participant, is able to compete - then I'd say this is a more reasonable argument - but that's not the case. Is she really the only girl on the team who's not competing at the State meet? If so - she's on a GOOD team - these are some fast cut times - www.inswim.net/2012cuts.html.

One of the things I liked about swimming is that your performance was never subjective - there was nothing about your performance that was assessed in any other meaningful way other than your times. Sure, I would have liked to compete at the NCAA championships - but I wasn't fast enough. And that's OK.

[ering1115]

i don't see the need to add events for her at a state championship. there are opportunities for her to compete at a higher level- its called the paralympics. if her time qualifies her, she could go to the national events or even to international events. there is no age minimum for the paralympics so nothing is stopping her from going to london (other than ability).

i do like to see that there is an opportunity for all athletes to compete. however, unless there are enough athletes, of the same physical type (not all disabled athletes are classified the same), that can support a championship there shouldn't be one.

[brghtstar]

I don't think accommodations should be made for her to be able to compete post-season. Yes she trains and competes with her team during the season but if she doesn't qualify for post - season matches that is just the way the sport goes. While yes they are a team sports like swimming and track are individual sports and she shouldn't get to compete just because other members of her team qualified to do so.

[emilyj]

May 16, 2012 11:28:41 GMT -5 charminglife said:

Unless the cut-off times for the state meet are so low that every swimmer, other than the disabled participant, is able to compete - then I'd say this is a more reasonable argument - but that's not the case. Is she really the only girl on the team who's not competing at the State meet? If so - she's on a GOOD team - these are some fast cut times - www.inswim.net/2012cuts.html.

Thank you. This is what I was trying to get at earlier, but you did it in a much better way. She's not the only girl on her team that is sitting home that didn't make the state meet, is she? Then I can't get on board with this 'extra heat for the disabled' at the state championships.

At that point, it becomes not fair to the people that just weren't good enough to make the cut because they just weren't good enough. Life isn't fair sometimes.

I will say this - I was a competitive gymnast, and there was a girl with down syndrome that competed on one of the high school teams. Not once at any of our state open meets (where you had to have above a certain score to qualify) did she compete in a special exhibition.

[chicken]

Uhhh, no. And I work in special education, so I am passionate about students who are more disadvantaged than their peers.

After high school she'll be expecting college athletic scholarships.

[aurora]

I think this is a difficult question overall, and the question of accommodating people with differences in sports is only going to get bigger as technology enables them to start playing on a level playing field with able-bodied athletes. See for example

www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/08/prostheses-sport

A short excerpt:

"Mr Pistorius began sprinting in January 2004 after sustaining a knee injury while playing rugby. Eight months later, aged 17, he won gold in the 200 metres at the Athens Paralympics, setting a world record in the process. His remarkable running economy was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the sport's governing body. In March 2007 it intervened to prevent Mr Pistorius from racing against able-bodied athletes, introducing a rule banning devices incorporating springs. He appealed, submitting to tests comparing his gait and physiology to those of other athletes, to no avail; the IAAF upheld its decision. A year later, however, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a tribunal deal with all manner of sporting controversies, overturned the ban, rebuking the IAAF for its handling of the matter.

Much of the debate has centred around whether an amputee, with less muscle mass, has a metabolic advantage over those with their limbs intact."

[2vermont]

Disclaimer: Yeah, I'm tired again,so forgive me if this response makes no sense.

If I had to come up with an analogy here I would liken this to a spelling bee. The best spellers get into and compete in a spelling bee. As far as I know, kids with disabilities in spelling are not given accommodations to compete in a spelling bee. Please correct me if I'm wrong about that.

Assuming I'm not wrong, it makes no sense to me to have accommodations for athletes with disabilities so that they can compete in an athletic competition.