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Honey or Vinegar? Athletes with Disabilities Discuss Strategies for Advocacy within the Paralympic Movement.

A
Andrea Bundon

Bundon, A. (2016). Honey or Vinegar? Athletes with Disabilities Discuss Strategies for Advocacy within the Paralympic Movement. The Canadian Disabilities Studies Association-Association des tudes sur lIncapacity Conference, Calgary, Alberta, May 28-30th, 2016.

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Honey or Vinegar Andrea Bundon School of Kinesiology The University of British Columbia Athletes with disabilities discuss strategies for advocacy within the Paralympic Movement
OVERVIEW Project Design Findings Discussion Questions and Comments The AthletesFirst Project
The AthletesFirst Project Vancouver 2014 GeraldDeo/TheUbyssey
The AthletesFirst Project Project Design Participatory Action Research 5 community co-researchers (all Paralympians) Created 'AthletesFirst' blog Took turns writing posts Encouraged others to discuss and debate issues
The AthletesFirst Project Project Design 14 months 34 blog posts 339 comments 9,700 visits 6,500 visitors 97 countries (63% Canada)
The AthletesFirst Project Project Design 25 semi-structured, qualitative interviews with blog authors and readers Blog posts and comments Social media Ongoing process of blogging, interviewing, analysis
The AthletesFirst Project Findings Authors and audiences described posts as a form of advocacy on behalf of athletes with disabilities They felt the posts were intended to educate others in the sport system They aimed to change ableist practices in the sport system and challenge disablism
The AthletesFirst Project Findings OR honey vinegar
The AthletesFirst Project honey "Why an integrated program? Because there simply aren't enough adaptive athletes for an adaptive-only program. Kudos to [the club] for being willing to accept me as a member and to the coaches who have been great..."
The AthletesFirst Project honey "I've had a couple of people ask about my vision and I'm happy to answer questions. However, most of them start with, 'So how much vision do you have - 75, 80%? When I tell them I have less than 10%, they often say, 'Wow, you sure don't look like it.' They have no idea that while it may look like I am simply grabbing an oar and walking out to the boat, every move I make is a calculated one... I make sure I am never the first one to the oar racks to avoid the embarrassing situation of whacking the surrounding boats like pi単atas."
The AthletesFirst Project honey "Once we launch, things get a little easier. Rowing is a very repetitive sport and when things are going well, there is a predictable rhythm to follow. But this is a novice program and all of us are still working on technique so being consistent is not our strong suit yet."
The AthletesFirst Project honey Honey Advocacy 1. Thankful 2. Humourous and self-deprecating 3. 'We'
The AthletesFirst Project vinegar "I understand the arguments against offering adaptive categories. I realize that it takes more volunteers and more set up time. But really! We are taking the time to set up these events anyways. It's discrimination not to offer adaptive categories. It sends out the message that adaptive racers are not as important... Don't we as adaptive people have enough challenges in trying to keep fit? Having to remind local race organizers every single season that we are here and want to race is getting a little old."
The AthletesFirst Project vinegar "I am a below-knee amputee and my qualifying time for the Boston Marathon is 8:00:00. Yes EIGHT HOURS!! For those of you who don't run and aren't sure what that time means... it means 'if you are missing a leg we're happy to have you here.' "
The AthletesFirst Project vinegar Vinegar Advocacy 1. Use language of discrimination 2. Humourous but sarcastic 3. 'Us' and 'Them'
The AthletesFirst Project Discussion "For human beings, advocacy is a default setting. We seek change for the better; we struggle to protect that what we have. Advocacy is a plea for what we want and see needed." (Stake & Rosu, 2012, p. 45)
The AthletesFirst Project Discussion "It would be difficult to impossible to try to be equally 'advocative' all the time. There are times and places for full effort, and times and places for keeping our partisanship unexpressed. We have multiple advocacies and they cannot all be shouted simultaneously. For physical and political reasons, our advocacies are intermittent." (Stake & Rosu, 2012, p. 48)
Acknowledgements Thank you to all the athletes, bloggers and blog readers who contributed to the AthletesFirst project. This research was supported by the

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Honey or Vinegar? Athletes with Disabilities Discuss Strategies for Advocacy within the Paralympic Movement.

  • 1. Honey or Vinegar Andrea Bundon School of Kinesiology The University of British Columbia Athletes with disabilities discuss strategies for advocacy within the Paralympic Movement
  • 2. OVERVIEW Project Design Findings Discussion Questions and Comments The AthletesFirst Project
  • 4. The AthletesFirst Project Project Design Participatory Action Research 5 community co-researchers (all Paralympians) Created 'AthletesFirst' blog Took turns writing posts Encouraged others to discuss and debate issues
  • 5. The AthletesFirst Project Project Design 14 months 34 blog posts 339 comments 9,700 visits 6,500 visitors 97 countries (63% Canada)
  • 6. The AthletesFirst Project Project Design 25 semi-structured, qualitative interviews with blog authors and readers Blog posts and comments Social media Ongoing process of blogging, interviewing, analysis
  • 7. The AthletesFirst Project Findings Authors and audiences described posts as a form of advocacy on behalf of athletes with disabilities They felt the posts were intended to educate others in the sport system They aimed to change ableist practices in the sport system and challenge disablism
  • 9. The AthletesFirst Project honey "Why an integrated program? Because there simply aren't enough adaptive athletes for an adaptive-only program. Kudos to [the club] for being willing to accept me as a member and to the coaches who have been great..."
  • 10. The AthletesFirst Project honey "I've had a couple of people ask about my vision and I'm happy to answer questions. However, most of them start with, 'So how much vision do you have - 75, 80%? When I tell them I have less than 10%, they often say, 'Wow, you sure don't look like it.' They have no idea that while it may look like I am simply grabbing an oar and walking out to the boat, every move I make is a calculated one... I make sure I am never the first one to the oar racks to avoid the embarrassing situation of whacking the surrounding boats like pi単atas."
  • 11. The AthletesFirst Project honey "Once we launch, things get a little easier. Rowing is a very repetitive sport and when things are going well, there is a predictable rhythm to follow. But this is a novice program and all of us are still working on technique so being consistent is not our strong suit yet."
  • 12. The AthletesFirst Project honey Honey Advocacy 1. Thankful 2. Humourous and self-deprecating 3. 'We'
  • 13. The AthletesFirst Project vinegar "I understand the arguments against offering adaptive categories. I realize that it takes more volunteers and more set up time. But really! We are taking the time to set up these events anyways. It's discrimination not to offer adaptive categories. It sends out the message that adaptive racers are not as important... Don't we as adaptive people have enough challenges in trying to keep fit? Having to remind local race organizers every single season that we are here and want to race is getting a little old."
  • 14. The AthletesFirst Project vinegar "I am a below-knee amputee and my qualifying time for the Boston Marathon is 8:00:00. Yes EIGHT HOURS!! For those of you who don't run and aren't sure what that time means... it means 'if you are missing a leg we're happy to have you here.' "
  • 15. The AthletesFirst Project vinegar Vinegar Advocacy 1. Use language of discrimination 2. Humourous but sarcastic 3. 'Us' and 'Them'
  • 16. The AthletesFirst Project Discussion "For human beings, advocacy is a default setting. We seek change for the better; we struggle to protect that what we have. Advocacy is a plea for what we want and see needed." (Stake & Rosu, 2012, p. 45)
  • 17. The AthletesFirst Project Discussion "It would be difficult to impossible to try to be equally 'advocative' all the time. There are times and places for full effort, and times and places for keeping our partisanship unexpressed. We have multiple advocacies and they cannot all be shouted simultaneously. For physical and political reasons, our advocacies are intermittent." (Stake & Rosu, 2012, p. 48)
  • 18. Acknowledgements Thank you to all the athletes, bloggers and blog readers who contributed to the AthletesFirst project. This research was supported by the