History of Disabled and Handicapped Sports

We’ve all heard of the Handicapped Olympics and we’ve all seen handicapped individuals and athletes accomplish many amazing feats that most ordinary people are able to conceive, haven’t we? Amazing feats like what?—one-leg skiing, wheelchair basketball, or a paraplegic swimming, yes, we have all seen that before. But where did it all start?

The Beginning: Rehabilitation

Essentially, the origins of handicapped sports began through rehabilitation efforts to help military war veterans who lost a limb or part of a limb physically strengthen and regain use of their remaining limb(s) and physical abilities. It was 1953, when the first known handicapped sport of One-Leg Skiing was introduced. A World War II veteran who lost a leg, Jim Winthers, began teaching the techniques he used to overcome his disability and began skiing again to others. Sometime later, one of his previous students so-to-speak, Jim Graham, would go on to become one of the first, handicapped, certified ski instructors.

Early Developments & Organizations

The National Handicapped Sports and Recreational Association, otherwise known as the NHSRA, was founded in 1967. At this time, skiing had become the primary and most commonly used form of sport-rehabilitation for recently disabled veterans, and was naturally placed within the NHSRA.

During the early to mid 70s, Kirk Bauer, a Vietnam War amputee, who was also another former learner of Winthers; became a founding father of the New England Handicapped Sportsman Association designed to educate disabled veterans and individuals. Bauer was elected to take over as head of the NHSRA in 1982, and it was he who then began incorporating fitness programs and summer sports into the organization. The National Handicapped Sports and Recreational Association was later titled, Disabled Sports USA in 1994.

The Special Olympics

This piece would not have been properly written without discussing the Special Olympics. During the 1950s and 60s, Eunice Kennedy Shriver became so disappointed with the unfair treatment of the mentally and physically challenged that she began a summer day camp in her backyard. Shriver designed her day camp, Camp Shriver, to focus on fine tune the physical abilities these special individuals were capable of rather than their limitations.

In 1961, by working closely with select members of JFK’s health staff, Shriver becomes the leading force in the founding of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, as well as a valued consultant to JFK’s panel. In the summer of 1964, Dr. James N. Oliver, praised for his study indicating physical activity has positive effects for the mentally challenged, becomes a consultant to Camp Shriver. By the fall of 1964, year-round recreation programs for mentally challenged individuals are established in Boston, Chicago, and North Carolina. Within a year, the program goes nationwide in all 50 states.

In November 1966, Shriver places a proposal that cities and states implement sports contests for the mentally challenged. A year later, Chicago’s Park officials invite Shriver to a local track meet for the mentally challenged that will be fashioned in likeness of the Olympics. Shriver pushes to make it a national event with the inclusion of mentally challenged athletes from across the country.

By summer of 1968, the first Special Olympic Summer Games are held at Chicago’s Soldier’s Field. In the years following, the Special Olympics incorporated and invited individuals with physical handicaps and disabilities to compete and participant in ceremony as well. Today, the Special Olympics, sometimes referred to as The Handicapped Olympics, have blossomed into an international event and handicapped and disabled athletes and individuals are viewed upon as anything but handicapped or disabled. As first mentioned; handicapped individuals perform amazing feats that the ordinary person is simply incapable of accomplishing.