Media and communication
Individuals and organisations can improve how we talk about disability and help create a more inclusive sport sector and society.
The language and images used when talking about people with disability impacts how attractive an activity, organisation, or program is for people with disability. They can also perpetuate harmful stereotypes, and impact how individuals feel (about themselves and others), and how they interact with people and their communities. 5, 36, 37
Improving the quality, quantity, and variety of people with disability represented in all aspects of the media can play an important role in reducing stigma and ensuring that people with disability engaging in all aspects of sport and life shifts from being perceived as odd to ordinary. This includes representations in broadcasting and news outlets, government and non-government reports and campaigns, and local club social media, newsletters, or promotional materials. 22, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42
Representations in the media
How the media, research, and other sources portrays and/or frames disability, especially in sport, has often been criticised for focussing on what individuals have overcome (i.e. ‘disability’) rather than who they are or their accomplishments. 30, 35, 43, 44
Several terms have been coined to describe this phenomenon including ‘super-crip’ (i.e. the ‘super’ cripple) or 'inspiration porn'. Advocates argue that portrayals like these may be harmful to the athletes and the broader disability community. They may also fail to engage many people with disability who don’t feel that elite athletes with disability are representative of their own lives and lived experience. 45, 46, 47
Individuals and organisations at all levels can help to improve the ways we talk about disability and help create a more inclusive sport sector and broader society. Some actions that can be taken include, increasing education and training for deliverers of sport and recreation, being accountable for delivering an inclusive environment – not just inclusive rhetoric, and increasing positive representations of people with disability in all aspects of sport. 5, 22, 35, 48
Resources and reading
- How a vision-impaired gold medallist will help Australians get the full picture at Paralympics, opens in a new tab, Hannah Hammoud, The Age, (27 August 2024). When Australian Paralympic gold medallist Felicity Johnson steps into the commentary box to call the para-cycling events in Paris, she will not be relying on her eyes to deliver the coverage.
- Episode 63: Reverse integration – doing disability sport differently, opens in a new tab, Lesley Evans Ogden, Mosaic/The Inclusion Club, (accessed 27 February 2024). In Canada, wheelchair basketball brings people together regardless of their abilities. Lesley Evans Ogden asks whether this kind of integration could help dispel stigma, discrimination and misconceptions about disability more widely.
- Paralympics TikTok account under fire for being 'insensitive' and 'mocking' athletes, opens in a new tab, Michelle Elias, The Feed, (25 April 2023). The official Paralympics TikTok account is, however, going viral, with people online accusing the account of being “insensitive” and “mocking” disabled athletes. The videos, which have millions of views, have been called “evil”, “vile” and “disgusting” – and they've provoked such a strong reaction that other users are creating their own videos condemning the content.
- Equality vs Equity graphics, opens in a new tab, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, (November 2022). If a picture is worth 1,000 words, having the right picture is worth even more. When conveying a concept as nuanced as the difference between equality and equity, developing a visual that effectively engages diverse audiences and helps generate meaningful conversations can take time and a great deal of input, thought, and care.
- Including Children and Youth with Disabilities in the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, opens in a new tab, Veronica Allan, York University, SIRC, (3 December 2019). Engaging in regular physical activity, getting enough sleep, and limiting time spent inactive are well known and evidence-based prescriptions for the promotion of overall health and well-being. The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth (ages 5-17) — which consolidate the evidence-based daily requirements for physical activity and inactivity, as well as sleep, into a single comprehensive resource — use the tagline Sweat, Step, Sleep, Sit and a logo in the shape of a “4” to represent a “new movement paradigm that emphasizes the integration of all movement behaviours occurring over a whole day” – moderate to vigorous physical activity (“sweat”), light physical activity (“step”), sleep, and sedentary behaviours (“sit”). But what about the kids and teens who cannot stand, step, or sweat? The Guidelines do not include any evidence-based recommendations for children and youth with a disability. To address this gap, a team of researchers from Queen’s University and the University of British Columbia set out to learn more about the potential inclusivity of the “sweat, step, sleep, sit” guidelines, and how the resource can be adapted for kids and teens of all abilities.
- Disability, sport and social activism: Para athlete activism, opens in a new tab, Damian Haslett, Brett Smith, Athlete Activism, pp.65-76, (2021). While there has been a recent rise in academic research focused on athlete activism, little attention has been given specifically to para-athletes as ‘activists’. This chapter will provide an overview of the latest developments in para-athlete activism research. First, we frame Paralympic sport and disability activism within an historical context. Following this we focus on athlete activism for parasport improvement. Here we will highlight literature concerned with how and where para-athletes advocate for various areas of social change within parasport contexts. Next attention turns to para-athlete activism for broader social good. Here we will discuss research that seeks to understand the various contributions that para-athletes make, or don’t make, towards disability activism in wider society (i.e. equality, diversity and inclusion). The next section concerns a critique of athlete activism from parasport contexts. In particular, here we will highlight research that problematizes the International Paralympic Committee’s new plan to promote para-athletes as ‘activists’. We close the chapter with a set of future directions for para-athlete activism research.
- Disabled athlete activism: Using an emancipatory theological approach to promote the use of disabled athletes in disability activism in the U.K., opens in a new tab, Stuart Braye, Tom Gibbons, Athlete Activism, pp.77-87, (2021). In this chapter, the practical theological perspectives of Paulo Freire (1993) and Gustavo Gutiérrez (2001) are utilised alongside Michael Oliver’s (1983) social model of disability to highlight the currently low involvement of disabled athletes in disability activism in the UK. Freire’s work on the emancipation of oppressed groups and Gutiérrez’s theology of liberation have not previously been applied to disabled athlete activism. Freire (1944-1986) first published The Pedagogy of the Oppressed in 1968. Freire’s (1993) educational philosophy towards illiterate adults in the Third World can readily be applied to other oppressed groups, such as disabled people. Gutiérrez (born 1928) first published A Theology of Liberation in 1971. Gutiérrez (2001) asserts that true freedom is liberation from every impediment that disempowers vulnerable people. He argues that emancipation is often considered in abstract terms rather than as real freedom. We advocate using an emancipatory theological approach for studying the role of disabled athletes in disability activism in the UK. We end by arguing that since the objective of both the Paralympic Movement and the Disabled People’s Movement are to enhance equality for disabled people, it would be in their shared interests to encourage disabled athletes to be involved in disability activism.
- Disability, the Media and the Paralympic Games, opens in a new tab, Carolyn Jackson-Brown, Routledge, (2020). This book focuses on the ground-breaking coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games by the UK’s publicly owned but commercially funded Channel 4 network, coverage which seemed to deliver a transformational shift in attitudes towards people with disabilities. It sheds important new light on our understanding of media production and its complex interactions with sport and wider society. Drawing on political economy and cultural studies, the book explores why and how a marginalised group was brought into the mainstream by the media, and the key influencing factors and decision-making processes. Featuring interviews with key people involved in the television and digital production structures, as well as organisational archives, it helps us to understand the interplay between creativity and commerce, between editorial and marketing workflows, and about the making of meaning. The book also looks at coverage of the Rio Paralympics, and ahead to the Tokyo Games, and at changing global perceptions of disability through sport.
- Paralympic sport key to driving NZ’s inclusion of disabled people, opens in a new tab, Paralympics New Zealand (December 2023). A nationwide poll conducted by market research firm Ipsos shows 84% of Kiwis believe the country should be inclusive of disabled people, but only half that number, 42%, feel Aotearoa New Zealand is inclusive of disabled people. Sport can help bridge the gap: 75% of Kiwis say Paralympic sport increases pride in New Zealand, and 55% want to see more coverage of it.
- An evidence review of the current barriers and facilitators of disabled people’s engagement with gyms, fitness and leisure centres, opens in a new tab, UK active, (2022). A narrative review presents available evidence under the three Everyone Can agenda themes: ‘information and communication’; ‘facilities and the environment’; ‘customer service and the workforce’. The evidence suggests key improvements that can be implemented to support and provide encouragement for disabled people to participate in activity in safe, welcoming and inclusive gyms, fitness and leisure centres. Amongst non-disabled people the review found there is a fear of offending or being misinterpreted by disabled people. However, there were ableist perceptions and statements suggesting non-disabled people may choose to attend other facilities because of disabled people and that inclusion should not come at the expense of non-disabled members. Additional ableist perceptions and statements included discussing the severity of the disability and the need for a carer and if disabled people could exercise independently. There was an assumption disabled people would exercise in the day and not during peak times. non-disabled people felt they should not be obliged or delay their own exercise by helping those with disabilities with certain exercises. And finally, that it is ‘easier’ to tolerate physical disabilities compared to cognitive or mental disabilities making it harder to follow the code for 'normal' interpersonal behaviour.
- How inclusive are SA sport clubs? A study into the attitudes and behaviours of members from South Australian mainstream sporting clubs, opens in a new tab, Katrina Ranford, Inclusive Sport SA, (June 2019). In 2018 Inclusive Sport SA was successful in securing a two-year Information Linkages and Capacity Building Project funded by the National Disability Insurance Agency, with the agenda to increase capability of the sector and grow active participation of people with disability (PWD) in mainstream sporting clubs and associations. A pillar of this project saw the consultation with Sport bodies and their members to understand the current landscape with regard to inclusive practices and in particular including people with disability in mainstream sporting clubs. Some key findings include:
- While most sporting clubs have a good level of facilities for those with physical disabilities, less than 30 percent of local clubs are involved with “inclusion” related activities such as Inclusion Come N Try events or teams for PWD.
- Almost 60% of participants believe their club would have no idea where to start actively engaging PWD into their teams and club roles, with 88% wanting additional training for coaches and volunteers. It is clear that clubs do not know how to cater for PWD and are keen for additional training in this space to change these figures.
- While three quarters of respondents support the participation of PWD in their sports’ competition, when asked if including a PWD in a game would negatively affect the quality of a club game, an alarming 43 percent noted that it would in some regard. This suggests that inclusion in principle is highly regarded and communicated, however when ‘inclusion’ joins ‘your’ team it becomes a different story all together.
- If we want inclusion in sport and society to grow a three-point journey to success is recommended. This includes spending time looking at education and training for deliverers of sport and recreation; for the sector to take accountability of delivering an inclusive environment; and an increase in visibility of people with a disability fulfilling roles in our mainstream clubs. Only then will we shift the perception of PWD participating in mainstream club land from inspirational or odd to everyday, ordinary sporting life.
- Identity in elite level disability sport: a systematic review and meta-study of qualitative research, opens in a new tab, William Crossen, Nick Wadsworth, Noora Ronkainen, et al., International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, (4 July 2023). This meta-study evaluated qualitative identity literature within elite disabled sport. Following a systematic search of EBSCO SPORTDiscus, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science, nine articles met the inclusion criteria. The meta-study examined how identity was framed from participant or author perspectives, employing narrative analysis to understand the participant stories and broader storylines crafted by authors. Two distinct narratives were co-constructed; Re-birth: characterising athlete identity experiences and how overcoming career challenges developed traits necessary for elite athlete status, and Tragedy: how authors’ interpretations indicated that although athletes achieved personal sporting success, the ‘bigger battle’ of how disability was presented within society remained. The Re-birth and Tragedy narratives update the prospective gap between how elite disability athletes story their experiences and their framing within society.
- ‘A small leap for disabled man’: the athlete-led evolution of the sports wheelchair and adaptive sports, opens in a new tab, Samuel Brady, Sport in History, Volume 43(1), pp.103-127, (2023). The history of the sporting wheelchair demonstrates that wheelchair athletes and non-disabled medical professionals – two distinct social groups as defined by the Social Construction of Technology – held different interpretations of wheelchair sport and technology, and their purpose. Originating as a form of rehabilitation, wheelchairs and wheelchair sport were once interpreted solely within the medical realm, resulting in restricted technical development for sporting wheelchairs due to concerns around user safety. Wheelchair athletes, however, adapted their equipment in resistance of medicalised rules, based on their reinterpretation of the technology and desire to advance wheelchair-based sports beyond the institution, legitimising technical innovation as a site of agency for disabled athletes. In doing so, the functionality and form of wheelchairs evolved, facilitating the creation of specialised, sport-specific wheelchairs, such as the basketball wheelchair and racing wheelchair. In response to this, the rules of these sports were altered, stabilising the athletes’ interpretation of wheelchair technology as sporting devices, and wheelchair sport as elite competition.
- Elite athletes with disabilities marketability and branding strategies: professional agents’ perspectives, opens in a new tab, Tiao Hu, Nina Siegfried, Minseok Cho, et al., European Sport Management Quarterly, Volume 23(6), pp.1643-1665, (2023). The study aims to explore agents’ motives and strategies in presenting elite athletes with disabilities (EAwD). Our findings indicated that agents are motivated by the business opportunity, marketability of the athlete, and their personal mission. They utilise storytelling, social media, and advocacy as strategies to market their athletes. Agents value the marketable lifestyle (e.g. life story) as the most salient dimension in building athlete brand image. Additionally, social media was seen as a critical tool to elevate athlete brand. Findings show positive environments in elite athletes with disabilities branding with need to combat barriers that long existed in disability sport marketing.
- An historical analysis of disability sport policy in Aotearoa New Zealand, opens in a new tab, Catriona McBean, Robert Townsend, Kirsten Petrie, International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, Volume 14(3), pp.419-434, (March 2022). Drawing on archival data we outline the evolution of disability sport policy, highlighting key initiatives of government sport agencies from 1937 to the contemporary disability sport policy landscape. Evolving with the rise of the social model of disability, these policies are considered a necessary response to an historical invisibility of disabled people in sport. We highlight a landscape that is complicated by significant diffusion of power between government and ‘not-for-profit’ organisations responsible for the provision of sport for disabled people. Within this contested landscape and with the historical weight of policy, disabled people in NZ continue to report exclusion, marginalisation and lower levels of participation, suggesting a disconnect between policy and its enactment. We introduce the concept of ‘enlightened ableism’ to illustrate that while progressive ideals are embedded in disability policy, there are still challenges for achieving true inclusive practice. Furthermore, lessons learned from previous policy failures suggest that while the future of disability sport in NZ looks well placed to facilitate increased participation, it is worth questioning the extent to which ableism is structured into the fabric of disability sport.
- Advancing sport opportunities for people with disabilities: from grassroots to elite, opens in a new tab, David Legg, Mary Dubon, Nick Webborn, et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume 56(22), pp.1266-1267 (2022). The proportion of individuals experiencing disabilities who can and have benefitted from sport and recreation opportunities, however, continues to lag in comparison to the general population. Several barriers preclude equitable participation. As one example, while there are 206 IOC members there are only 184 National Paralympic Committee members. How can we elevate the profile of para sports locally if equity does not exist on the world stage? Images and stories presented in the media often influence public perceptions. Historically, athletes with disabilities are under-represented in the media, and when they are portrayed, they are often represented as ‘objects of pity, charity or medical treatment that have to overcome a tragic and disabling condition or conversely, presented as superheroes who have accomplished great feats, so as to inspire the non-disabled’.4 Several recent initiatives have advanced the authentic and inclusive representation of people with disabilities in the public media. One example is Channel 4 in the UK which for the 2022 Paralympic Games was the first to have an entire presenting team composed of people with disabilities. After broadcasting the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, Channel 4 also developed a Disability Code of Portrayal that provides guidelines on disability representation across all their platforms. Recent global trends suggest, however, that change is coming and that we are on the cusp of significant innovation that will enable more inclusive and equitable opportunities for sport participation for all. This editorial highlights these movements and provides several ways the sport and exercise medicine (SEM) community can engage to advance inclusion and accessibility.
- About inclusive participation in sport: cultural desirability and technical obstacles, opens in a new tab, Alexy Valet, Sport in Society, Volume 21(1), pp.137-151, (2018). What does it mean full participation of people with disabilities in ‘sports for all’? Beyond the right of access, the right of sharing can enrich the quality of participation in sport, overcoming segregation. But how can be guaranteed an ‘inclusive participation’ that avoids the double risk of ‘normalizing’ integration or ‘charitable’ integration? Beyond 'being among the others' or even 'doing with the others', people with disabilities should also have the possibility to ‘be valued by the others’ through the real recognition of their participation in this shared sport experience. This is not only a cultural shift, but also a technical challenge, especially to fill the persistent gap between the inclusive rhetoric and the inclusive practices really available to the people. We will explore then the key issue of the technicality of inclusive participation in sport, showing the interest of applying the principles of design for all to the architecture of sports rules.
- Disability Models: Explaining and Understanding Disability Sport in Different Ways, opens in a new tab, Brett Smith, Andrea Bundon, in ’The Palgrave Handbook of Paralympic Studies’, Ian Brittain, Aaron Beacom (eds), Springer, pp.15-34, (2018). How we explain and understand disability matters. In this chapter, we examine one way of explaining and understanding disability through a models approach. Two traditional models are first critically attended to. These are the medical model and then the social model. Having problematised these models, the next two more recent models are described, that is, the social relational model and the human rights model of disability. Throughout examples of research using models from sport are noted. We close with a set of future directions for understanding disability, sport, and physical activity. The directions offered for consideration include a focus on critical disability studies, disablism, and ableism.
- The fiddle of using the Paralympic Games as a vehicle for expanding [dis]ability sport participation, opens in a new tab, P. David Howe, Carla Filomena Silva, Sport in Society, Volume 21(1), pp.125-136, (2018). In this paper, we highlight the need to explore the excessive significance given to the Paralympic Games as a vehicle for the encouragement of participation of people with a disability within sport. The media spectacle around the games that the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has worked tirelessly to develop has become, for policy-makers and the public alike, a sufficient outlet for disability sport provision. The honourable goals of the IPC articulated through the ethos of Paralympism have been assumed to be valid for all people with a disability, yet in terms of widening participation, their utility is limited. This paper first illuminates the relationship between the International Olympic Committee and the IPC before we turn our attention to the ethos of Paralympism. Highlighting the necessity for ‘sport for all’, we use a human rights lens, aided by a capabilities approach to facilitate better ways to educate the public about the need for equality of access to sporting participation opportunities.
- Elite athletes or superstars? Media representation of para-athletes at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, opens in a new tab, McPherson G, O’Donnell H, McGillivray D, et.al., Disability and Society, Volume 31(5), pp.659-675, (2016). This paper analyses media representations of para-athletes before, during and after the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014. The authors consider the importance of the media-sport cultural complex in influencing public attitudes towards disability. They conclude that whilst the importance of media exposure cannot be underestimated, change at the level of lived experience will only flow from carefully designed and executed political and policy initiatives rather than directly from changes in the media presentation or visibility of individual athletes.
- Paralympic Legacy: Exploring the Impact of the Games on the Perceptions of Young People With Disabilities, opens in a new tab, Janine Coates and Philip Vickerman, Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, Volume 33(4(, pp.338-357, (2016). The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games aimed to deliver a legacy to citizens of the United Kingdom, which included inspiring a generation of young people to participate in sport. This study aimed to understand the legacy of the Paralympic Games for children with disabilities. Eight adolescents (11–16 yr) with physical disabilities were interviewed about their perceptions of the Paralympic Games. Thematic analysis found 3 key themes that further our understanding of the Paralympic legacy. These were Paralympians as role models, changing perceptions of disability, and the motivating nature of the Paralympics. Findings demonstrate that the Games were inspirational for children with disabilities, improving their self-perceptions. This is discussed in relation to previous literature, and core recommendations are made.
- Public attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities after viewing Olympic or Paralympic performance, opens in a new tab, Ferrara K, Burns J, Mills, H, Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, Volume 32(1), pp.19-33, (2015). One of the aspirations of the 2012 Paralympic Games was to influence the public’s attitudes toward people with disabilities. The aim of this study was to investigate whether stimuli depicting people with intellectual disability performing at Paralympic level would change public attitudes. A mixed randomised comparison design was employed, comparing two groups; one group who viewed Paralympic-level sport footage of athletes with intellectually disability and another group who viewed Olympic footage of athletes. This study found that implicit (subconscious) attitudes significantly changed in a positive direction for both groups. Despite some limitations to this study, it seems that media coverage of the Paralympic and Olympic Games has the potential to change attitudes toward people with intellectual disability and disabilities in general in a positive direction.
- Empower, inspire, achieve: (dis)empowerment and the Paralympic Games, opens in a new tab, David Purdue, P. David Howe, Disability and Society, (December 2012). Through interviewing past and current Paralympians and other disability stakeholders the authors findings suggest Paralympians are most likely to gain empowerment from the Paralympic Games, yet their specific impairment, athletic lifestyles and failure to identify as ‘disabled’ were identified as potentially limiting the ability of the Paralympic Games to empower others.
- Cyborg and Supercrip: The Paralympics Technology and the (Dis)empowerment of Disabled Athletes, opens in a new tab, Howe, D.P, Sociology, Volume 45(5), pp.868-882, (2011). Technology has created a divide between different impairment groups with the Paralympic movement and also amongst ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ nations. This article questions whether the advances in technology are actually empowering disabled athletes.
- Disability A-Z, opens in a new tab, Disability Australia Hub, (accessed 14 May 2024). Provides links to disability knowledge, advocacy and information resources.
- A Universal Design Guide for creating Inclusive Sport in Australia, opens in a new tab, Paralympics Australia, (2024). This Guide can act as a valuable reference for sports representative bodies adopting inclusive practices, as well as sports clubs and venues that want to get started on the journey. It addresses structural, process and attitudinal barriers to inclusivity and universal design and comprises: Definitions of accessibility, inclusivity and universal design; How to adopt an inclusive mindset and language; Motivating case studies; Focus activities for universal design; Practical guides for: hosting a universal design kick-off meeting, developing inclusive strategy, producing accessible documentation, and designing accessible inclusive digital experiences. A ‘living document’, through user testing, the guide will be refined and updated as Paralympics Australia builds its presence and activity to make Australian sport accessible and inclusive.
- Inclusive communications factsheets, opens in a new tab, Activity Alliance, (accessed 13 March 2024). A series of inclusive communications factsheets to support sport and activity providers to be more accessible and inclusive in their communications. The factsheets cover a range of communication topics, channels, tools, and platforms.
- Disability Code of Portrayal, opens in a new tab, Channel 4, (2022). Developed by the UK's Channel 4 these guidelines aim to deliver a step change in both the quality and quantity of on screen representation of disabled people. The principles outline how it intends to dial up representation of disability across all its content.
- PWDA Language Guide: A guide to language about disability, opens in a new tab, People with Disability Australia, (August 2021). This guide unpacks some of the key factors which influence disability-related language; provides advice for media workers around reporting on disability-related content; identifies commonly misused terms and recommends suitable alternatives.
- Media Guide: Reporting on disabled people in sport, opens in a new tab, Activity Alliance, (August 2016). In August 2016, Activity Alliance released a new media research report about the public's desire to see more disability sport in the media. Among the key findings, the report concluded that journalists and sports providers need more support and guidance on appropriate reporting. So, we created the Media Guide: Reporting on disabled people in sport. The guide provides better practice guidance on six key areas - tailoring content, story type, style and placement, language, media formats, and ambassadors.
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