"I shouldn't just hide in the darkness": youth and parent experiences in wheelchair sport

ABSTRACT

Disabled youth derive health, social belonging, enjoyment, and well-being from participating in sports, much like their nondisabled peers. This narrative inquiry study explored wheelchair sport experiences and the meaning ascribed to sport participation among youth with orthopedic impairments and their parents or guardians. Using a multi-case study, narrative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with three youth athletes and their parents. Thematic analysis shed light upon the participant narratives of social belonging, self-beliefs, and identity development experienced by the youth participants and their parents within the context of wheelchair sport. The first theme, ‘wheelchair sport as a community,' portrayed the wheelchair sport event as a highly inclusive setting that enabled strong social acceptance and emotional support. The second theme, ‘moving from frustration toward confidence in sporting contexts,' captured ambivalent emotive moments experienced during sport participation, particularly those related to perceived physical abilities. While the final theme, ‘athletic identity in wheelchair sport,' depicted the youth participants' individual journeys toward athletic identity development. Based on these lived experiences and perceptions, participants' stories illustrate the social, physical, and psychosocial benefits and challenges of wheelchair sport participation. The study concluded that youth wheelchair sport can be a meaningful avenue for social interaction for disabled youth and their families, positive self-concept regarding one's body and abilities, and pro-athletic identity beliefs. Further, introductory events to wheelchair sport must be carefully planned and implemented to create an enjoyable and low-stakes opportunity for novice wheelchair sport athletes to explore their relationships with physical activity and sporting culture.

KEYWORDS:

• Parasport
• youth sport
• orthopedic impairment
• community belonging
• athletic identity
• narrative inquiry

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The disability-related language used by the authors in this report was intentional. When referring to study participants under the age of 18, authors identified them using their most salient shared descriptors (e.g. youth participants, wheelchair basketball player). Additionally, authors chose to use identity-first language throughout unless referring specifically to biological differences (e.g. impairments) because (a) demographic information regarding specific impairment diagnoses was not pertinent to the study aims; (b) identity-first language is in keeping with the social–relational understanding that individuals are not disabled by the mere presence of impairment, but rather it is societal barriers that prevent access for persons with various impairments, including physical impairments, that cause disability (Peers et al., 2014) and (c) youth participants and their parents used a variety of terms to describe themselves. Participants’ chosen terms were retained their direct quotations as applicable.