Effect of Adaptive Sports on Leisure & Social Participation Satisfaction of Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

This presentation describes an exploratory research study to examine the effects of participation in adaptive sports on the social & leisure participation satisfaction of adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP). CP is the most common childhood motor limitation (CDC ADDM, 2008) and young people with CP experience a decline in participation in recreational activities in the transition to adolescence (Majnemer et al., 2015). COVID-19 impacted recruitment of participants for the proposed study, but also provided the opportunity to examine the development of a virtual adaptive sports program and one young man's experience with it. The presentation explores the impact of both traditional & virtual adaptive sports on the lives of individuals with physical disabilities, such as adolescents with cerebral palsy (Blauwet et al., 2020). At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to: • Understand cerebral palsy (CP) and its impact on an individual’s function • Describe the social & leisure participation needs of adolescents of CP • Recognize the benefits of traditional & virtual adaptive sports for individuals with disabilities, such as CP References Blauwet, C. A., Robinson, D., Riley, A., MacEwan, K., Patstone, M., & Dubon, M. E. (2020). Developing a virtual adaptive sports program in response to the covid ‐19 pandemic. PM&R, 13(2), 211-216. doi:10.1002/pmrj.12481 Center for Disease Control Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (CDC ADDM). (2008). Data & Statistics for Cerebral Palsy. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/cp/data.html Majnemer, A., Shihako-Thomas, K., Schmitz, N., Shevell, M., & Lach, L. (2015). Stability of leisure participation from school-age to adolescence in individuals with cerebral palsy. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 47, 73-79