The mission of the Lakeshore Foundation is to
raise, manage, and distribute funds and other resources to support
activities, programs, or projects that encourage independence
through enhancing the lifestyles and community participation of
individuals who have experienced physical disability.
The Lakeshore Foundation SuperSports Program
exists to provide sports and recreation opportunities for
children with physical disabilities. Super Sports allows a child
to maximize his or her life potential through various sports and
recreation activities. This program provides significant skill
development, socialization, competition, and goal- oriented recreation
opportunities for children to get past their immediate disabilities,
and push their physical and cognitive skills. The intent of the
program is to introduce new activities, teach skills, and provide
a continuum of programs to enable a child to progress at different
levels.
For more than 15 years, Lakeshore Foundation
has been helping people with physical disabilities explore avenues
toward rewarding lives, creating opportunities to excel in all
areas of life: work, education, family, recreation, leisure, and
more. Lakeshore Foundation serves men and women, children
and adults, who have experienced a wide range of conditions including
arthritis, MS, spinal cord injury, strokes, amputations, head
injury, or cerebral palsy. Located in Homewood, Alabama, their
facilities include some of the nation's finest recreation, fitness,
and athletic facilities created specifically to meet the needs
of people with physical disabilities. To learn more about their
programs, click on their logo above and visit their website.
Founded in 1985, the National Ability Center (NAC)
is dedicated to the development of lifetime skills for persons
with disabilities and their families by providing affordable,
quality sports and recreational experiences. The benefits of these
experiences build self-esteem and confidence, enhancing active
participation in all aspects of community life. NAC is a non-profit,
tax-exempt organization.
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The National Council on Disability (NCD) is
an independent federal agency making recommendations to the President
and Congress on issues affecting 54 million Americans with disabilities.
NCD is composed of 15 members appointed by the President and confirmed
by the U.S. Senate. In 1986 NCD first proposed that Congress should
enact a civil rights law for people with disabilities. In 1990,
the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law. NCD's
overall purpose is to promote policies, programs, practices, and
procedures that guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals
with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity of disability;
and to empower individuals with disabilities to achieve economic
self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration
into all aspects of society.
The U.S. Access Board, also known as the Architectural
and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, was created
in 1973 to serve the nation as the only independent federal agency
whose primary mission is accessibility for people with disabilities.
The Board develops accessibility guidelines and standards under
the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Architectural Barriers
Act, as well as the Telecommunications Act. Enforcement, technical
assistance, training, and publications concerning these areas
are offered by this agency.
Since 1993, SADEF, located in Rio de Janeiro,
has worked to improve conditions for individuals with disabilities
in the area of social emancipation. Visit their site to learn
more about their organization and its services, which include
distribution of sport & recreational equipment and support
of athletes with disabilities. (This site is written in Portuguese.)
Far West Wheelchair Sports (FWWS) is a tax-exempt,
non-profit organization/association which promotes, develops,
and organizes wheelchair sports for individuals with physical
disabilities. It is the largest sanctioned Regional Sports group
of Wheelchair Sports USA (WSUSA) and includes the states of California,
Arizona, and Nevada. Far West was founded on the philosophy
that people with disabilities share the same desire and capability
for attaining athletic excellence and physical fitness as do their
non-disabled peers, and that these needs are best met through
comprehensive sports programs which allow each person to achieve
his or her own athletic potential.
DisabilityCentral.com is a new website that
provides a virtual gathering place for people with disabilities.
According to a study by a leading disability research center,
less than 10% of Americans with disabilities use the Internet.
DisabilityCentral.com hopes to increase these numbers by
providing a unique, easy-to-use Internet site to help expand knowledge,
experience, and friendships. Dr. Linda Stein, Director of DisabilityCentral.com,
sees the Internet as an equalizer for individuals with disabilities,
"...because one is not judged on appearances over the Internet."
Recently launched @ctivTeen, part of Disability Central's
site, is a project managed by and for teens with disabilities.
Visit this site by clicking on their logo above.
Elite athletes from 36 countries competed from March
7-16, 2002, at the VIII Paralympic Winter Games in Utah.
The Salt Lake Organizing Committee is the first winter organizing
committee to completely integrate the organization of both the
Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games. To find out
more about these exciting upcoming Games, click on their logo
above and visit their website! Also, check out PALAESTRA's Spring
'02 issue for a review of these exciting Games!
The Texas Woman's University Project INSPIRE
web site is designed to offer teachers, parents, individuals with
disabilities and other professionals current information about
adapted physical education for individuals with disabilities.
Disability Fact Sheets include specific information about individuals
with disabilities and basic accommodations that can be made to
serve them in physical education, leisure, recreation, fitness,
and sport. Other major pages address aquatics for individuals
with disabilities, extreme sports, recreation and leisure, the
law and advocacy, and teacher tested activities for public school
programs. Click on the logo above to find out more!
The American Association of adaptedSPORTS™
Programs (AAASP) is an award-winning interscholastic athletic
association whose mission is exclusive to student athletes with
physical disabilities or visual impairments. In Georgia, AAASP
and the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) have put Georgia
at the forefront of interscholastic adapted athletics through
a dual-governing alliance wherein AAASP governs all sports for
students who have physical disabilities in GHSA member schools.
AAASP extends its reach nationally through its Coach
Training Program. Through sports certification and publications
that address various aspects of teaching adaptedSPORTS™,
AAASP prepares coaches, educators and other professionals to oversee
the athletic development of this underserved student population.
Additionally, adaptedSPORTS equipment and rulebooks are available
through FlagHouse, a global sports equipment distributor. To find
out more about this Association, click on its logo and visit its
website.
Located in Newry, Maine, Maine Handicapped Skiing
(MHS) is a non-profit organization, founded in 1982, serving
the recreational needs of children and adults with physical disabilities.
Specially trained MHS volunteers work with participants to become
independent skiers and snowboarders in the winter, and in the
summer their program includes horseback riding, canoeing, kayaking,
and handcycling. To find out more about MHS, click on their logo
above!
P.A.D.D.L.E.R.S. Outrigger Canoe Club, located
Santa Barbara, California, is a small, newly formed outrigger
club. The club's focus is to enjoy the sport of outrigger canoeing
to it's fullest. Membership at this time is open to adult athletes
40+ with or without disabilities. P.A.D.D.L.E.R.S. stands
for Paddling Athletes Defying Disabilities, Limitations, Enjoying
Recreational Sport. To find out more, click on their logo and
visit their website.
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