Sports experiences of elite athletes with intellectual disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

Few sociological surveys have focused on the experiences of elite athletes with intellectual disabilities (ID) and/or autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, more and more ID and/or ASD athletes are practicing elite sport. In this article, we seek to explore the mixed contacts of elite ID and/or ASD athletes with non-disabled people, resulting from their practicing both in sports contexts organized for disabled people (specific context) and non-disabled people (mainstream context). Fifteen semi-structured interviews and eight days of ethnographic observations were carried out with 7 elite table tennis players and 8 elite track-and-field athletes. The results analysis highlights the heterogeneity of the experiences - positive and negative - of elite ID and/or ASD athletes, both in specific and mainstream sports contexts. This heterogeneity of experiences invites favoring institutional arrangements that make the modalities of sport participation flexible for people with ID and/or ASD.

Keywords:

• Elite athletes
• intellectual disabilities (ID) and/or autism spectrum disorders (ASD)
• face
• stigma
• impression management

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 In this article, we mainly use the term “people with ID and/or ASD”. This term has been widely used in our field of investigation. While this designation emphasizes individual and biomedical characteristics, this does not mean that these characteristics necessarily imply processes of social discrimination or stigmatization (Shakespeare, 2013). It is therefore necessary to distinguish bodily or intellectual capacities and social processes disablement (Oliver, 1990). When it comes to designating the mechanisms of social oppression and discrimination we use, in accordance with the social model of disability (Barnes, 2012), the term disabled people, or conversely non-disabled people.

2 In this article, the term ‘elite athletes’ designates athletes registered on the list of high-level athletes, published by the Ministry of Sports. The national and international results of these athletes justify their selection in the French teams and their presence in the French team training courses.

3 There are three classes of disability in sports for individuals with ID and/or ASD. Class II1 (Intellectual Impairment) includes athletes with activity limitations that result from an Intellectual Impairment, who have a restriction in intellectual functioning (IQ below to 70) and adaptive behavior that affects conceptual, social and practical adaptive skills required for everyday life. This impairment must be present before the age of 18. This class is the only one eligible for the Paralympic Games. Class II2 (Intellectual Impairment) includes athletes with Down syndrome. Class II3 (Intellectual Impairment) includes athletes with autism spectrum disorders with an IQ upper 70.

Five of the table tennis players in the study are classified as II1 and two are classified as II3. All eight athletes are classified as II1. 13 of the 15 athletes surveyed are therefore in the same category, that eligible for the Paralympic Games.