International Journal of Social Policy & Education

ISSN 2689-4998 (print), 2689-5013 (online)

DOI: 10.61494/ijspe


Abled bodied experts often discriminate and are wrong about inclusion for people with physical disabilities.

Aubrey Hope Shaw & Sharon Kay Stoll


Abstract

Discrimination against people with physical disabilities in physical education, recreation, and sport exists everywhere. The purpose of this paper is threefold: 1) to discuss how attitudes can lead to discriminatory action towards people with physical disabilities, 2) to give examples through a case study of how inclusion can be a fruitful part of the classroom curriculum for pre-service teachers and 3) to provide results and a discussion of a case study completed in the 2020-2021 academic year in which university pre-service teachers were immersed in an inclusion curriculum. Pre-service teachers can be prepared to teach this population and attitudes can positively shift to include this population. The conclusion focuses on a solution for collegiate instructors to prepare pre-service teachers to include. Individuals with physical disabilities can be successful in the classroom with abled bodied school-aged physical education students and these same individuals can be successful teachers of abled bodied students.