While words such as sport and exercise may sound distant and exclusive to a person with a disability, the concept of movement is often an easier gateway to both better well-being and greater independence.
Stina Vikström is a sports consultant at Västra Götaland's Parasport Association, which caters to people with mobility, visual and intellectual/cognitive disabilities.
"The aim of Make a Move is to work together to create the conditions for everyone to be able and willing to move. But everyone is a tricky word, especially when people who belong to the norm talk about everyone. In practice, many people are often not included.
If Make a Move is to be an equal initiative for all the region's inhabitants, people with different disabilities need to be fully included. This is where parasport comes into the picture. We put on the accessibility glasses, raise awareness and provide skills support.
We at Parasport Västra Götaland have worked a lot with the word movement over the past ten years, as many people with disabilities do not feel included in the concepts of sport, sport and exercise. This may be because they have not been given the opportunity to do so due to society's ignorance. In school sports, you might not be able to get your wheelchair into the gym because it was half a flight of stairs up, and therefore couldn't join in the lessons.
With such experiences, sport is not something you feel positive about or pick up later in life. Parents and schools may not be able to provide the extra push needed.
The word movement, on the other hand, makes it easier for more people to understand that it can be about getting out of your apartment in your wheelchair and buying your own food, socializing with friends or moving in other ways. These can be less dramatic forms of movement to start with, which also make you more independent.
For example, we are currently organizing a wheelchair school for those who have recently been prescribed an assistive device. The wheelchair is tested for the individual and sent home, but the user rarely learns how to handle it and may not dare to use it. But if we can awaken the desire to be active in the wheelchair in general, there is a wealth of activities in parasport to discover.
If the focus on physical literacy is generally about lowering thresholds, they need to be filed down even lower for our target groups. All people, regardless of their physical capabilities, need to use their bodily functions to feel good."
