General physical education (GPE) affords many opportunities for students with and without disabilities to interact and develop positive peer relationships. This case study describes one teacher's use of collaborative practices, universal design for learning (UDL) and the inclusion spectrum to create an accessible learning environment in which the goals of both students with and without disabilities are addressed. Using UDL in conjunction with the inclusion spectrum allows teachers to examine the task structure to optimize learning experiences so that students with disabilities can actively engage with peers. Transitioning from everyone can play, to modified, to parallel and disability sport activities enables teachers to create lessons that incorporate learning objectives across a broad range of skills and abilities while promoting friendship and encouraging students to see their classmates with disabilities as contributing members. In order to serve the needs of all students, GPE teachers should consider using the principals of UDL and the inclusion spectrum to plan and instruct accessible lessons.

The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning of a wheelchair tennis program from the perspective of youth athletes, their caregivers and coaches through the lens of the social-relational model of disability. Data collection included field notes, focus group interviews and semi-structured individual interviews with six wheelchair tennis athletes (four males, two females) and eight adults (four mothers, one father and one grandmother, one program coordinator and one wheelchair tennis coach). A thematic analysis utilizing social relational model identified patterns within and across the data, allowing for description and interpretation of the meaning and importance of the themes. Two primary themes linked to both positive and negative experiences were identified: (1) disablism in everyday life, and (2) constructing ‘competent’ identities on the tennis court. The themes, taken together, describe the challenges faced, and the accomplishments achieved by the athletes and their families within a culture that marked them as different. Drawing on a social relational lens fosters an appreciation of anti-ableist aspects of sporting environments, simultaneously recognizing athletes’ experiences of surrounding structural and psychological barriers.

The purpose of this research was to examine the pedagogical practices that encourage students with severe disabilities’ participation in an elementary physical education program through the lens of ableism. Focus group interviews were conducted with elementary students and semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight educators in the school. Field notes were conducted and documents, including the lesson plan and journal entries were collected. Findings reveal the teacher’s intentional instructional practices fostered students’ engagement with peers and classroom activities. The results of this research augment the literature describing teachers’ orientations and pedagogical innovation that serve the needs of students with disabilities within general physical education settings.

Currently, 3% of children in the United States have a visual impairment. An estimated 50%–75% of these children have additional moderate to severe disabilities. Unfortunately, many physical education teachers and teachers of the visually impaired have difficulty including children with visual impairment and additional disabilities. A lack of appropriate training limits students’ opportunities to improve motor skills and engagement in physical activity. The purpose of this research was to determine the training needs of teachers and support staff of children with visual impairment and additional disabilities through the voices of parents and educators. Focus group interviews were conducted with findings organized under two broad sections entitled (a) barriers to participation and (b) training needs to support students with disabilities. A Universal Design for Learning framework was used to analyze the results revealing the need for a variety of trainings and the use of flexible curricula to effectively instruct and support children with visual impairment and additional disabilities.

Although physical education teachers overwhelmingly agree that students with disabilities should be included in general education, many are simply not adequately prepared. This article presents universal design for learning as a model that all educators should consider adopting in their classes, and explains how to embed it in physical education and teacher education.

In this paper, we analyze the subjective inclusion experiences of visually impaired (VI) adult tennis players from an ableism-critical perspective. The primary focus of this research is the inclusive potential of blind tennis from the perspective of VI individuals. Episodic interviews were conducted to capture subjective perspectives. A qualitative text analysis revealed that the interviewees were confronted with multiple ability assumptions by sighted people in their everyday lives. Deficit notions on the performance of VI people included sports, work, and general activities. Participation in blind tennis helped the interviewees build a “competent identity” and acquire various skills useful for their everyday lives as participation in blind tennis was a pathway for competence in sports. Further research is needed to identify exclusion experiences from the perspective of disabled people to recognize the potential of different sports in reducing barriers to participation.