Intellectual disability sport classification
Separate classification systems exist for the elite athlete with a disability side affiliated with the Paralympic movement and Virtus (formerly known as the International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability INAS), and the sports for all model affiliated with Special Olympics.
ID sport classification started in earnest internationally in 1985 following the creation of INAS.
Following a cheating scandal in 2000, ID sports were removed from the Paralympic program for 2004 and 2008 before being reinstated for the 2012 Games.
Intellectual disabilities impact sport performances in a number of ways including causing slower reaction times, less strength, endurance, agility, flexibility and balance.
In general, ID sport requires sportspeople to meet three criteria for minimal disability.
[2] American Association of Intellectual and Development Disabilities (AAIDD) have one such system that is used in the United States.
[7] Their disability needs to impact their sport performance, and they often have to meet a minimum age requirement.
In a few cases, it also includes people who acquired their disability as children as a result of traumatic head injuries during childhood.
[18][19] For swimming in Scotland, it is handled by Scottish Disability Sport in partnership with British Para-Swimming.
[12] Testing has shown that people with intellectual disabilities often have less strength, endurance, agility, flexibility, balance and slower running speeds than the non-disabled.
[5] People with Down syndrome often have a condition called ligamentous laxity, which results in increased flexibility in their joints of their neck.
Coaches need to be more effusive with praise, not assume that athletes will understand and retain what they are told, focusing on improving overall physical ability to improve competition performance, focus more skills while playing rather than as independent drills removed from the sport, and revisit concepts often.
[8][23] The same year, some national ID sport organizations were created around the globe including AUSRAPID in Australia.
[3] In the early 1990s, sports people from this disability group had available as options on the elite level included basketball, athletics, indoor soccer, swimming and table tennis.
[8][23] The first competition similar to the Paralympic Games for people with intellectual disabilities took place in 1992 in Madrid.
[27] Following the Games in response to issues with who meets minimum disability requirements, INAS suggested an endorsed certification using the SIC-Q assessment tool for IQ testing as a way around potential manipulation.
[27] Restrictions related to intellectual disability classes were lifted, and these sportspeople were allowed to participate at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.
[11] The decision was made following a meeting of the IPC General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in November 2009.
[24] Sports on the program for the London Games including swimming, athletics, and table tennis.
[29] IPC Athletics implemented a revision to their ID classification system in September 2011 in time for the INAS World Games.
[36] In England, The FA is in charge of governance for ID football, where this class is referred to as Learning Disability.
"[32][44] Rowers with an intellectual disability can compete domestically in Great Britain where the class is called RSS-LD.
[24] Swimmers on the international level are required to be a minimal age set by FINA for their discipline, need to have a formal diagnosis using international standards, and have evidence that their disability results in a functional impairment that means they could not compete fairly against people who do not have a disability.
[21] For the Special Olympics, the minimum qualification is having trained in swimming for at least 6 weeks and must be at least 8 years old.
[14] In table tennis, players are asked to demonstrate several types of serves as part of sport specific testing.
This includes using IQ test scored, having a medical diagnosis for an intellectual disability or having other diagnostic support materials.
The first step is to determine that the athlete meets the basic medical criteria, and this is managed by Virtus in coordination with their national member organisations.
[21] This is then coupled with TSAL-Q, a questionnaire that explains total time training and experience with the sport.
In swimming, after the competition, the race will likely be reviewed using video analysis to look at stroke speed in the pool.
[38] In table tennis, players are asked to demonstrate several types of serves as part of sport specific testing.
