FDSW Helpsheet
A guide to including disabled people in the infrastructure of your NGB
This Helpsheet aims to give you information and guidance about including disabled people in the infrastructure of your NGB, through identifying and removing barriers; tips relating to appropriate target marketing; and contacts for further assistance. The end result of this should be increased opportunity for disabled people to get involved with the roles, activities, and policy building that is central to the effective infrastructure and running of your NGB.
1. Attitudinal
This relates to individual and social perceptions, expectations and (therefore) reactions to situations or individuals. Negative attitudes are expressed through language (spoken, written or body) and behaviour, and can be very detrimental to people’s involvement and understanding of whether initiatives or opportunities are genuinely open to them.
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2. Physical
With regard to the area of ‘disability’ these are often the collection of barriers which are most easily recognised; they relate to things which may prevent people from being able to access buildings, services or facilities because the physical structures or features make it difficult or impossible.
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3. Opportunity
Often the range and frequency of sports opportunities for disabled people are more limited than provision from non-disabled people. This might mean that disabled people have to travel a lot further to do the sports they want to, or they might only have a small choice which is restricted to sports that they might not excel in, or enjoy as much.
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4. Support
Most people involved in sport rely on support to some extent throughout their involvement, whether it is in the form of a taxi service to and from training/ competition, or whether it is encouragement to continue or initially get involved. For disabled people, this support may additionally be related to a particularly individual acting to directly support the individual (interpreter, personal assistant, advocate, etc), and identifying this might present additional barriers.
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5. Representation
This relates to the media primarily, but may also be relevant when thinking about marketing or promotional materials. The amount and manner in which disabled people and disability sport is portrayed through the media, and in the posters, websites and marketing your NGB or clubs produce is really important; the more visible, the more people will know, and if positively portrayed the more likely people will be to get involved and interested.
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