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Deterrents to Participation in Play and Recreation by People with
Disabilities, In Rank Order, The Worst Deterrents Is Number One

1. Lack of Transportation for people with disabilities, from their residence to play or recreation cite and return, is a major deterrent to participation. Many people with disabilities lack the income to purchase and maintain automobiles. Further, public transportation is often not available or is inaccessibility.
STATUS: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5 PRIORITY: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5

2. Lack of Funds to provide special play and recreation programs, services, staff, equipment, facilities, and supplies. Public agencies often perceive of people with disabilities as a "high cost" group to serve. The top priority for agency funds goes to the "high count" general public.
STATUS: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5 PRIORITY: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5

3. Architectural Barriers disallow people with disabilities to enter/exit from buildings, to use toilets, to ascend/descend stairs from one floor to another, etc. Further, remote locations or difficult means of accessibility are not an encouragement to use a facility. The agency gets is "public relation count of participants" from non-disabled. If all of a person's energy is used getting to and from the recreation activity because of architectural barriers, there is no energy left for recreation ... the joy is certainly gone.
STATUS: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5 PRIORITY: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5

4. Failure to Find people with disabilities is often based on failure by the agency to look for them -- that is, to locate (find), inform, recruit, enroll, and get the person into an activity. Part of the problem is based on non-participation lifestyles. Also, people who have been forced to live outside the recreation center for her or his entire life do not suddenly change their routine because a recreation service announces a special play or recreation program. "Person Find" means going to find and bring in.
STATUS: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5 PRIORITY: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5

5. Community Prejudice toward people with disabilities precludes participation in recreation programs and facilities, precludes public funds being made available, and precludes development of special recreation services for people with disabilities.
STATUS: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5 PRIORITY: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5

6. Non-Employment of people with disabilities institutionalizes prejudice against people with disabilities. It create a role model void because there is no one on the recreation staff whose presence and performance demonstrates disABILITY. If disABLED are not hired as staff it reinforces the idea in the public's mind that play and recreation are not relevant to the lives of people with disabilities. Of course an absence of people with disabilities in a recreation service agency is, de facto, demonstration of prejudice against the disabled.
STATUS: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5 PRIORITY: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5

7. Lack of Staff Training means little or no understanding of disease and disability, of people with disabilities, of human rights, of special needs, and of methods of working with people with disabilities.
STATUS: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5 PRIORITY: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5

8. Staff Prejudice against people with disabilities precludes paid and volunteer recreation staff accepting, leading/teaching, and working with people with disabilities.
STATUS: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5 PRIORITY: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5

9. Anxiety About Agency Liability for injury to people with disabilities precludes acceptance. "AA -- Administrator Anxiety" -- is caused by not knowing that public liability insurance covers participants including people with disabilities; or, thinking that there is added potential injury among people with disabilities and increased liability. People who are disabled are as safe or safer that "non-disabled" and no more "injury prone" than the general population.
STATUS: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5 PRIORITY: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5

10. Status Quo in policy, personnel, organization, and program works against people with disabilities. The status quo is safe (as well as being boring). The status quo seems secure. Changing the status quo by admitting people with disabilities threatens people who fear that change. They think that change will cause them to lose power, prestige, or position or all three. But, change comes when some people see things as they might be in an ideal world and say, "Why not!"
STATUS: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5 PRIORITY: __1 __2 __3 __4 __5

Dealing with Deterrents. A person or an organization can be confronted with one deterrent or ten deterrents. They can be overcome. It takes two things: One, the decision to do so. Two, the determination to see it through.
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Footnote

(1) Nesbitt, John A. and others.
Vol. 1---New Concepts and Processes in Community-Based S.R., 156 pp., see ERIC.
Vol. 2---Model Community-Based Special Recreation Services, 463 pp., see ERIC.
Vol. 3---Papers on New Models of Community-Based S.R., 354 pp., see ERIC.
in:
National Institute on New Models of Community-Based Special Recreation for People with Disabilities. Iowa City, IA, Recreation Education Program, University of Iowa, 1978. 10 volumes, 1,858 pp.
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GLOBAL VISION PROJECT:
Global Vision of Rehabilitation and Recreation
for People with Disabilities in the 21st Century
A JOINT PROJECT BY:
Disability International Foundation AND
Special Recreation for disABLED International

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