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The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness of creativity as a goal of adapted physical education, to describe assessment techniques, and to suggest instructional approaches for developing creativity in the movement setting. Creative behaviors that can be developed in handicapped children and youth include fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration, risk-taking, courage, curiosity, and imagination. Research on creativity and handicapped children is identified and cited. Assessment instruments reviewed are Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, Wyrick Test of Motor Creativity, Torrance Test of Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement, TWU Motor Creativity Rating Scale, and Brennan Test of Creative Motor Performance. Instructional approaches described are dance and movement education, games analysis intervention, and shared decision-making versus teacher decision-making. Also discussed are modeling and the influence of specific teaching behaviors on handicapped children’s classroom responses.

This paper presents an alternative rationale, other than compliance with PL 94-142, for implementing the integration of handicapped and nonhandicapped students in physical education. Support for integration is related to Lawrence Kohlberg’s (1971, 1984) stages of moral development. Integration is discussed in terms of the three major philosophical positions (pragmatism, idealism, and realism) as described by Davis (1963), Van Dalen (1975), and Webster (1965). Support for integration, although for different reasons and to different degrees, can be found in each philosophy. The paper illustrates an exercise in the clarification of values that can be replicated by readers.

The underrepresentation of women in the Paralympics movement warrants attention as the world prepares for Atlanta 1996, when Paralympics (conducted after the Summer Olympics) will attract approximately 3,500 athletes with physical disability or visual impairment from 102 countries. Barriers that confront women with disability, the Paralympic movement, and adapted physical activity as a profession and scholarly discipline that stresses advocacy and attitude theories are presented. Two theories (reasoned action and contact) that have been tested in various contexts are woven together as an approach particularly applicable to women in sport and feminists who care about equal access to opportunity for all women. Women with disability are a social minority that is both ignored and oppressed. Sport and feminist theory and action should include disability along with gender, race/ethnicity, class, and age as concerns and issues.

The purpose was to develop and field test a comprehensive needs assessment instrument for use in determining and prioritizing local school district adapted physical education needs. The resulting Survey of Adapted Physical Education Needs (SAPEN) was comprised of 50 items, encompassing five areas: (a) significance of physical education, (b) assessment, placement, and individualized educational programming, (c) instruction and programming, (d) personnel, and (e) other. Items were to be rated on two, 6-point Likert-type scales, relating respectively to the extent to which each adapted physical education condition now exists and should exist in one’s school district. Procedures established by Schipper and Wilson (1975) were followed in determining needs and subsequently designating them as first (most urgent), second, and third priorities to be acted upon by school district personnel. Content validity of SAPEN was established by five nationally known adapted physical education experts. Test-retest and internal reliability coefficients were determined by the Spearman Rank Correlation and Alpha Coefficient techniques respectively. Data analysis and cooperative planning follow-up procedures were field tested in a selected school district with SAPENs returned by 37 administrators, 48 physical educators, 55 special educators, and 12 parents.

The purpose of this study was to describe international perspectives concerning terms, definitions, and meanings of adapted physical activity (APA) as (a) activities or service delivery, (b) a profession, and (c) an academic field of study. Gergen’s social constructionism, our theory, guided analysis of multiple sources of data via qualitative methodology. Data sources were online surveys, APA literature, and expertise of researchers. Findings, with the identification of further considerations, were provided for each APA component to stimulate reflection and further inquiry among international professionals with diverse backgrounds.