CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Physical activity benefits children with disabilities but they often have a tough time getting started. With the best of intentions, parents of children with health problems or disabilities may fear that their child could be injured by sports or exercise or that it may worsen her condition, and so they do not encourage participation.

Yet, in most cases – and obviously with the permission of her medical specialists – a child with disabilities can gain huge satisfaction and benefit from being active, not least because it can be a boost to her self-esteem as she experiences a sense of accomplishment and possibly the taste of winning. In recent years, huge strides have been made in the design and provision of sports equipment for children with disabilities. From hand-crank tricycles to snow skis, sports wheelchairs to special horse-riding saddles, the variety of choice is so much wider now.

Depending on the condition involved (hearing and visual impairment, birth defect such as cerebral palsy, developmental disabilities, heart problems, brain or spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, and seizure disorders) benefits from physical activity can include:

- muscle strengthening

- greater joint mobility

- improved balance and coordination.

You can encourage your child with special needs to be physically active by:

- Researching local sports groups such as wheelchair basketball leagues, adapted horse riding and tennis leagues in your local area.

- Help your child to set his own personal goals – and not to strive for somebody else’s.

- Praise her efforts and remark on achievements – even if they appear small or progress seems painfully slow.

- If she finds a sport she loves, help her to get the most from it and to continue by providing the necessary adaptive sports equipment.