Disabled Students Win "Historic" Battle Over Title IX & College Sports

[superman7515]

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/25/16696160-disabled-students-must-be-given-sports-says-education-dept?lite


The feds are ordering schools across the country to make "reasonable" changes to sports programs so that disabled students can play — or else create separate teams for them.

The new guidance from the Education Department issued Friday was hailed by advocates for the disabled but denounced by a conservative think-tank that said it could cost big bucks for cash-strapped schools.

"We think it’s huge and historic. In my opinion it could have the same effect, if properly implemented, as Title IX did for women," said Kirk Bauer, executive director of Disabled Sports USA.

Title IX required schools to offer girls and boys the same athletic opportunities and resulted in a huge uptick in female participation in school sports after it took effect 40 years ago.

The new order from the Education Department says athletics is also a civil right for the disabled and schools that don’t protect it could lose federal funding.

Under the latest rules, schools must tweak traditional programs to give qualified disabled students a shot at playing as long as they can do it without fundamentally changing the sport or giving anyone an advantage.

For instance, a visual aid instead of a starter pistol for the deaf runner would be easy to implement, while adding a fifth base to a baseball field to shorten running distances would be considered too big a change.

[citdog]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HOBTUCv4o0

[Reign of Terrier]

I can see why this is a thing. With that said, they should definitely be separate. If not, they'll be used as a weapon in the sense that no one wants to tackle the kid in the wheel chair (or some won't be able to) and other such instances.

[ITmonarch10]

I can see why this is a thing. With that said, they should definitely be separate. If not, they'll be used as a weapon in the sense that no one wants to tackle the kid in the wheel chair (or some won't be able to) and other such instances.

What sport could they go with for disabled students as a whole? My guess they probably focus mostly on individual sports rather than any team sports.
On a side note, maybe we won't suck so much for the Paralympic Games.

[BlueHenSinfonian]

Under the latest rules, schools must tweak traditional programs to give qualified disabled students a shot at playing as long as they can do it without fundamentally changing the sport or giving anyone an advantage.

For instance, a visual aid instead of a starter pistol for the deaf runner would be easy to implement, while adding a fifth base to a baseball field to shorten running distances would be considered too big a change.

That bit makes me think that this won't end up being a very big deal. Letting someone play football in a wheelchair could be seen as fundamentally changing the sport, as would making someone 'off limits' to tackle.

[BEAR]

I know wheelchair basketball is big in many places. Arkansas has the rolling Razorbacks.

Plus didn't I see that Sam has a deaf kid playing football for them now? While that's not a physical impairment like a wheelchair, I'm sure some things have to be done different to help him play. Proud of him and Sam for making that happen!

I'm not sure of this ruling though for sports like football. When being illusive is the key to scoring on some plays, the level of disability of the participant can either help that or hurt that. But who knows. Guess we'll see how this all pans out.

[bonarae]

Will this decision create more diversity in the training pool for the various Special Olympics and the Paraplegic Games events? xchinscratchx

[citdog]

Will this decision create more diversity in the training pool for the various Special Olympics and the Paraplegic Games events? xchinscratchx



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmj9HnbdhTc

[Laker]

make "reasonable" changes?

My idea of reasonable and their idea of reasonable are as different as night and day.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Upon an initial read of the actual letter from the Assistant Secretary of Civil RIghts there seems to be a lot less there than meets the eye.

Some observations:

1. What's most interesting about this is that there doesn't appear to be any lawsuit, or "underrepresented people" here, that are clamoring for equal access. It seems like a study was made by the GAO - unprompted? - and came to a conclusion that better information was needed for schools to "clarify their responsibilities" for giving students with disabilities access. This is very different from Title IX where there were lawsuits and people who wanted to field a team but were denied.

2. Plenty of kids with "disabilities" already perform on all sorts of college teams, so Title IX-like quotas wouldn't seem to apply. Let's say a football player has diabetes (an elementary student with diabetes is actually used as an example in the letter). As long as he can do the work and there's some sort of athletics support staff that can help him with his "disability" of diabetes in the form of, say, insulin shots or something like that, I would think that the team would provide equal access to those kids with particular disabilities. Learning disabilities would likely be covered, too, through the counseling already required by most schools thanks to APR requirements.

Just thinking out loud here. What do others think?

[Engineer86]

Learning disabilities would likely be covered, too, through the counseling already required by most schools thanks to APR requirements.


Only in America. At institutions of "higher learning" there need to be accommodations for students with Learning disabilities. Ignore reality that the student is not suited for it and rather than encourage them to work at things that work for them, spend millions to something that is not possible.

[Go Green]

Just thinking out loud here. What do others think?

I agree with BlueHen that this probably isn't going to be a big deal.

If some golfer has a leg problem, give him a cart like Casey Martin. If you have a deaf swimmer or sprinter, use a strobe light rather than a pistol to start the race. If you have a blind wrestler, have a rule that they always have to be touching and once they break free blow the whistle and get them back together.

There will be some tougher calls. Dartmouth had a woman in a wheelchair in the early 1990s who was supposed to be the female champ of wheelchair tennis. She petitioned the Ivy League to let her go out for the varsity team and have her matches be under "wheelchair rules" (i.e., the ball has to bounce twice to be "in"). The league denied her request. Will a lawsuit follow next time?

And for whatever its worth, Dartmouth and Columbia have had deaf football players in the not-too-distant past. Princeton has had quite a few deaf athletes (golf, soccer, lacrosse, ice hockey).

[Reign of Terrier]

See the only problem I have with the deaf/blind thing is that in something like track, basic physics says that the speed of light is faster than the speed of sound and that makes one liable for false starts and what not.

[superman7515]

If you have a blind wrestler, have a rule that they always have to be touching and once they break free blow the whistle and get them back together.

I had to wrestle a blind kid in high school and it really isn't an issue, in my opinion, to make the concession. Hell, I watched a one-handed pitcher throw a no hitter in the MLB, so it's not like there aren't guys out there that can do it. What about an Oscar Pistorius type who wants to play wide receiver?

http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/1045theteam.com/files/2012/08/Oscar-Pistorius.jpg

He could do it without dramatically changing the game, so you better let him play. The question is, if they want to play and can't, they say you should create a team for them. Will there be lawsuits saying you have to fund these teams equally? Offer scholarships? Make sure you have a proportionality of handicapped females on the varsity teams as you have handicapped males playing football, baseball, track, etc?

(Language Warning - But fitting)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvPdTQRHBmA

[Bisonwinagn]

Everyone has a chance to try out for a team as they currently exist. If you aren't able to play with the existing rules too bad go home and do something else. This rule is a complete joke and another example of the damaging "fairness" society we live in today. Well life ain't fair..get over it and move on. How about make someone achieve something special in spite of a handicap because of their passion and desire. We need to teach people to be over comers regardless of limitations and not change rules so everyone get's a participation trophy. America is losing it's desire to win.

[citdog]

I once pulled off a 'Helen Keller' by copulating with a deaf girl, a blind girl, and a mute girl all in the same year.

[dgtw]

My son (high schooler) wrestled a kid today at a tournament who doesn't have any legs. We played against him in baseball a few years ago and he wore prosthetic legs playing third base. He is very athletic and a great kid. Too bad my son had to pin him.

Seriously, wrestling is a sport the most open to the disabled. I've seen blind kids, deaf kids, a kid with one arm and the guy today. Certain accommodations have to be made (like supe's example of the blind guy) but the nature of the sport is not changed.

[kdinva]

Everyone has a chance to try out for a team as they currently exist. If you aren't able to play with the existing rules too bad go home and do something else. .

+1. In my/our youth, if you weren't good enough to make your Little League team, tough........now it's mandated a coach keep every kid who tries out........even if he can only throw a baseball 9 feet.....and does not know which end of the bat to hold.

[Go Green]

I once pulled off a 'Helen Keller' by copulating with a deaf girl, a blind girl, and a mute girl all in the same year.

If it was this deaf girl, I'm impressed.

ttp://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/0000299558-001/heather-whitestone-first-deafmute-to-be-elected

xnodx

[Bisonoline]

I once pulled off a 'Helen Keller' by copulating with a deaf girl, a blind girl, and a mute girl all in the same year.

I would say they would have to be. But at least you got laid.xlolx Now I am just try to figure who got the benefit of the "mercy hump"

[dgtw]

If it was this deaf girl, I'm impressed.

ttp://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/0000299558-001/heather-whitestone-first-deafmute-to-be-elected

xnodx

She was a graduate of Jax State.

[PAllen]

... Will there be lawsuits saying you have to fund these teams equally? Offer scholarships? Make sure you have a proportionality of handicapped females on the varsity teams as you have handicapped males playing football, baseball, track, etc?

(Language Warning - But fitting)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvPdTQRHBmA

This is the big issue. Giving everyone a shot to tryout is a no-brainer. The issue is if a school wants to sponsor basketball, do they now have to have a men's team, a women's team, a men's wheelchair team, a women's wheelchair team, a men's blind team, a Women's blind team, a men's no arms team, a women's no arms team,... and offer them all scholarships if they want to offer scholarships for any of them?

Golfing with a cart, no problem. Wrestling in most cases, no problem. But when do you stop requiring new teams of equal prestige and funding when further accommodation "fundamentally changes" the sport?

BTW, anybody running track with those artificial spring legs can have a huge advantage. I ran the Marine Corps Marathon a few years ago alongside of a couple of wounded Marines for a few miles. They were each double amputees, and were running on the spring legs, except that their "running feet" were three feet long. Their knees were above my waste (I'm 6 ft tall). They certainly earned their advantage for what it was, but these guys had a 9 foot stride, not to mention the wonderfully engineered efficiency of the spring.

[bojeta]

Haven't read the details, but..... If it's about making sure those who CAN compete, have access to compete, regardless of their disability, then GREAT!! If it's about making competition accessible to all, regardless of ability to compete, then I have to cry foul. If that's the case, then the slippery slope is.... everyone has to be allowed to play. That means the couch patato, the pot-head, the 95 lbs weakling, the 73 year old who returned to college. Hell, they'll even have to let me play :) I have to assume (bad idea) they have thought this through enough to not completely kill competitive college sports.

[ITmonarch10]

+1. In my/our youth, if you weren't good enough to make your Little League team, tough........now it's mandated a coach keep every kid who tries out........even if he can only throw a baseball 9 feet.....and does not know which end of the bat to hold.


They are still bench warmers.

[superman7515]

They are still bench warmers.

Not in Little League. Regulation IV (i) in the Little League rulebook requires that "every player on a team roster will participate in each game for a minimum of six (6) defensive outs and bat at least one (1) time."

[Go Green]

She was a graduate of Jax State.

Take that, SEC!

The FCS schools have the best looking deaf women!

:)

[Go Green]

The issue is if a school wants to sponsor basketball, do they now have to have a men's team, a women's team, a men's wheelchair team, a women's wheelchair team, a men's blind team, a Women's blind team, a men's no arms team, a women's no arms team,... and offer them all scholarships if they want to offer scholarships for any of them? .

I'm really not following this closely enough to give an answer.

That being said... the only "new" sports that schools could POSSIBLY offer are wheelchair cross-country (most marathons have a wheelchair division), wheelchair basketball (as another poster said), and wheelchair rugby (check out first season of "Friday Night Lights").

I can tell you right now that the Ivy League schools just don't have enough wheelchair athletes to field any team, unless maybe a "team" of one for cross-country. I'm guessing that is probably the case with a lot of other conferences.

Whether or not the Ohio States of the world have 10 or 15 wheelchair guys who can get around pretty fast... I have no idea.

[alvinkayak6]

I bet the result is that some more men's golf or wrestling or tennis teams get cut, so that we can have disabled sports, too.

[daneboy]

My concern with this is the cost. I live in California and many programs are suffering a financial crisis. The Los Padres League-a high school league in my area, has had to drop all of their freshman teams as a cost saving measure. And, many local teams are having a hard time coming up with the money for travel. There is just not enough funding. Without getting into the merits of Title IX, the end result was that many schools dropped some of their men's programs because of the cost to fund the new women's programs. Who is to say that this won't cause schools to create seperate-but-equal teams for the disabled. And again, I am not talking about the merits of doing this, I am only wondering about the cost. If schools are forced to develop a disabled program and taking into consideration their budgets, will this lead to the elimination of some of the current teams-both men's and women's? That is the question...
I should state that I am all for athletic competition and feel that it is a great benefit for all who participate. The elimination of any program is a sad thing and I feel it should be avoided at all costs. And yes, I do my part by attending as many athletic events as I can. This means I buy lots of tickets, programs and snacks at a lot of football, basketball, wrestling and baseball games in my area. I also donate to these programs when I can. It's just that these schools are in a financial pinch and forcing them to pay for something they can't afford may lead to some un-intended consequences.
xconfusedxxconfusedxxconfusedxxconfusedxxconfusedx xconfusedxxconfusedxxconfusedxxconfusedxxconfusedx xconfusedxxconfusedxxconfusedxxconfusedxx

[CID1990]

If this results in athletic events like what we saw in Revenge of the Nerds then I'm all for it.

[walliver]

I know wheelchair basketball is big in many places. Arkansas has the rolling Razorbacks.

Plus didn't I see that Sam has a deaf kid playing football for them now? While that's not a physical impairment like a wheelchair, I'm sure some things have to be done different to help him play. Proud of him and Sam for making that happen!

I'm not sure of this ruling though for sports like football. When being illusive is the key to scoring on some plays, the level of disability of the participant can either help that or hurt that. But who knows. Guess we'll see how this all pans out.

In 2003, Wofford had a receiver who was legally blind and a one-armed placekicker. Both of whom were starters. We also made it to the semis that year.

I suspect that almost all "reasonable accommodations" have already been taken in most team sports. Other than allowing golf carts, there is not much else to do. Many smaller colleges and high-schools will not have enough disabled players for special teams.

Many of the special features used for deaf and blind players in high school leagues will be difficult to implement in a large noisy stadium.

[Bogus Megapardus]

http://static2.fjcdn.com/comments/If+you+can+dodge+a+wrench+you+can+dodge+a+_74479ab 1fa084c6bc65661f370a4c314.jpg

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

I hate this country

[ST_Lawson]

Just came across this video and was reminded of this thread. I don't really know how this kid would fit into this whole "disability Title IX" thing, but he can obviously play the game without significantly changing anything. Dude's a 1-legged beast.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwIliTGqtnM

[Darlinikki150]

If they started a different league would it be like club sports, many schools have non div sports? This I could see as being an alternative but to disrupt a sport to accommodate 1 or 2 people seems a little ridic. I'm awfully tired of the culture in the US that everyone is good and gets a trophy. Parents, ur kid isn't the next Michael Jordan or Justin veerlander. Its out of control. But if disabled persons can participate in these sports desperate from the true NCAA established system, they should be given every opportunity and support to do so. It may sound cruel, but common sense has too over rule an emotional reaction to this.