Sport and Recreation for the Disabled/Sport et loisirs pour handicapes: An Index of Resource Materials/Un repertoire de la litterature

Robert Barney was Professor of Physical Education at the University of Western Ontario in London.

One of the grandest historical contributions embedded in the evolving process of “education for all” is, in fact, education for the so-called handicapped or disabled individual. An extension of education for the handicapped is the area of sport and recreation for the disabled, which is receiving increasing attention from educators. Colleges and universities throughout the world have developed curricula designed to prepare professionals to carry out the important tasks of creating, administering, supervising, and evaluating sport and recreation opportunities for the disabled.

The body of knowledge upon which theoretical and practical education for the handicapped rests has developed slowly over the past three-quarters of a century or so, though in recent years the literature has expanded rapidly. Investigating the literature in the field has been particularly difficult because the existing source materials were to be found only in the “nooks and crannies” of bibliographical material. In an attempt to solve this problem, the Sport Information Resource Center (SIRC) in Ottawa has assembled a most impressive index of sources drawn from the current holdings of some 23 organizations and resource centers across Canada that have specialized material on the subject. Fundamentally, the index is a collection of bibliographical listings that update a prior effort by SIRC (1979, under the same title as the present index).

SIRC’s new index classifies material by its subject content. Under wheelchair basketball, for example, are over fifty listings on the subject, ranging from its history, to the considerations of skill development, training, facilities, rules, organizations, etc. On the subject of camping, over 125 sources are listed, and there are some 250 entries listed under the topic of activities for the mentally retarded. The index leaves hardly a stone unturned. Although the index is primarily a list of sources published originally in English, works published in French are also drawn to the attention of the index consumer.

As excellent as the index is, it does have some weaknesses. For instance, citations appear under only one subject heading, a fact that index users should be aware of. Then, too, many of the documents listed were not examined first hand in order to verify information content. Thus, the accuracy of the citations depends directly on the accuracy of the information supplied by the participating organizations from which the source information was gleaned.

All in all, though, this 1984 index is a commendable, important, and much-needed addition to the bibliographical information on the subject of sport and recreation for the disabled.