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The Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports’ commitment to integrate disability sport in the sport organizations for the able-bodied was evaluated based upon a description of an ideal, inclusive sports organization. Data were collected primarily through interviews and questionnaires. The results indicate that the integration process proceeded more slowly than originally intended. There were still unresolved matters on the structural/organizational level, and the sports federations’ officials were uncertain about the extent of their responsibility and the role of the new sports organization for persons with a disability. More relevant competence was needed in the organization. All organizations reported improved attitudes toward individuals with a disability and indicated that integration was a demanding enterprise.

Our purpose is to propose a model of “Empowerment through the sport context” to guide psychosocial research in disability sport. We discuss the concept of empowerment in relation to sport for individuals with disabilities. Expanding upon the work of Hutzler (1990), we include three levels of empowerment (societal, group, and individual level) in our approach. Important moderators are age of onset of disability, gender, and type of disability. Important mediators are (a) at the individual level, achievement goals, identity, and self-efficacy; (b) at the group level, motivational climate, group identity, and collective efficacy; and finally, (c) at the societal level, the cultural context and political efficacy. Several methodological considerations are discussed, and various solutions are suggested. We also discuss the critiques that have emerged in relation to the use of the empowerment concept.

The purpose was to examine the effects of type of program (integrated vs. segregated) and type of sport (basketball vs. swimming) on sport skills, four domains of perceived competence, and general self-worth. Participants were 48 adolescent females with mental retardation (MR) divided equally into six groups: (a) segregated basketball, (b) integrated basketball, (c) segregated swimming, (d) integrated swimming, (e) adapted physical activity (APA), (f) sedentary. The experimental treatment was 8 months long. We administrated sport skill tests and Harter’s (1985) Self-Perception Profile for Children four times to determine changes in sport skill, perceived competence, and general self-worth. Results indicated (a) significant improvement in skill for all sports groups, (b) no changes in perceived social acceptance and physical appearance, (c) significantly lower perceived athletic competence for the integrated basketball group compared to the sedentary group, (d) significantly lower perceived conduct for the basketball groups compared to the APA and sedentary groups, (e) and no significant changes in general self-worth.

The Invictus Games are a parasport competition for service members and veterans with illnesses and injuries. The 2014 Games were aired by the BBC, for a total of 12 hr of coverage. This study aimed to investigate what messages were conveyed regarding parasport for veterans during the BBC’s Invictus Games broadcast. A content analysis was conducted. Five qualitative themes were identified: sport as rehabilitation, the promotion of ability over disability, the social environment, key outcomes of participation, and the importance of competition. Quantitative results indicated that 2 segment types accounted for the majority of the broadcast: sport coverage (50.57%) and athlete experiences (12.56%). Around half of the coverage focused on participants with a physical disability (51.62%). The findings demonstrate key similarities to and differences from previous explorations of parasport media coverage, with the needs of the event and athlete population potentially influencing the broadcast.

The inclusion of able-bodied athletes within disability sport, a phenomenon known as reverse integration, has sparked significant debate within adapted physical activity. Although researchers and practitioners have taken up positions for or against reverse integration, there is a lack of supporting research on the experiences of athletes who already play in such settings. In this study, we explore how competitive female athletes who have a disability experience reverse integration in Canadian wheelchair basketball. Athletic identity was used as the initial conceptual framework to guide semistructured interviews with nine participants. The results suggest that participation in this context contributed to positive athletic identities. Interviews also pointed to the unexpected theme of “what’s the difference?” that this sporting context provided a space for the questioning and creative negotiation of the categories of disability and able-bodiedness. Methodologically, this paper also explores the possibilities and challenges of inter- worldview and insider-outsider research collaboration.