1 1 EUCAPA Conference 2012, Sunday 6th May: 2 3 MR O'FLYNN: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, good morning! Failte, welcome to you 4 all, especially those who journeyed from far away. 5 6 Ahead of us over the next three days is the most important APA event in the world 7 this year. 8 9 33 countries are represented here, offering you a unique opportunity to share, learn 10 and network. 11 12 This is the first time ever that Ireland has hosted the European congress. The 13 congress theme however putting practice based research into action has been at the 14 heart of what we do here in Kerry for the last 15 years. 15 16 So the emphasis at this congress will be on the skills and interventions that assist 17 people with disabilities. Working with them, alongside them, meeting their 18 requirements. 19 20 That's why you'll find in every session over the next three days a practical 21 workshop, teaching best practice in everything from dance to aquatics, power soccer 22 to table cricket, sitting volley ball to marble arts. 23 24 Speaking of practical, this congress simply couldn't have happened without the 25 support and commitment of several key bodies. Most notably, EUFAPA, the European 26 federation of Adapted Physical Activity, the Irish Sports Council, Bord Failte, the 27 Irish tourist board, our host this weekend the IT Tralee and of course the Irish 28 government, in the shape of the Department of Justice and equality. 29 30 We're privileged here today to have Minister Kathleen Lynch to perform the official 31 opening. Minister Lynch, in her relatively short time in office, has been a strong 32 supporter of the APA movement right from the start. Helping to fund in particular 33 the accessibility leisure centre initiative. She has a keen interest too in the area 34 of inclusion of people with disabilities in physical activities of all kinds. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 2 1 2 So today, this morning, we welcome a friend. 3 4 Ladies and gentlemen, the Minister of State at the Department of Health and the 5 Department of Justice and Equality, the Minister with responsibility for disability, 6 older people, equality and mental health, Minister Kathleen Lynch. 7 8 MINISTER LYNCH: Good morning everybody, how are you? 9 10 It's Sunday, and the priest usually starts off by saying good morning and everyone 11 replies good morning father, in this case we're hopeful that in the future it will be 12 good morning mother, we'll wait. 13 14 It's a beautiful day and you couldn't be in a better place than Kerry when the 15 sunshines like it is this morning and indeed, to welcome all of you, and the 16 President of the Institute of Technology Tralee tells me that you have all arrived 17 from 33 different countries, and that is a spectacular attendance. 18 19 And really that attendance only goes to indicate how important this particular 20 conference is, and I would like to thank the President of the European federation for 21 awarding the conference to Ireland and to Kerry and we do deeply appreciate that, 22 Mr President. 23 24 I also would like to thank the President and indeed the entire faculty in Tralee 25 Institute of Technology for being at the coal face, being where it is important to 26 be, where it is important to be is in relation to not just the practical teaching of 27 physical activity as it applies to people with disabilities, but also being involved 28 in the European dimension, so as they were there to apply for and be accepted as the 29 people to host this particular conference. 30 31 It's nice to see in a time when Ireland has such difficulties, and we are not going 32 to talk about those today, that they can -- we can in fact still attract conferences 33 of this significance to Ireland, that's very important. And it will be important to 34 us into the future. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 3 1 2 It is equally important to see that people with disabilities will be at the centre of 3 your deliberations this weekend. 4 5 It's not just politicians like myself that have an interest in this area, we also 6 have with us today our MEP Sean Kelly, who has always had an interest in the area, 7 Sean as you might know was in fact president of the GAA and the GAA have been a big 8 player when it comes to including people with disabilities and will become an even 9 bigger player into the future. 10 11 We have an incredible reputation in Ireland in terms of sport, at any weekend you 12 will find an array of sports I think would be hard to match anywhere else in the 13 world, and those sports and those local heroes, that type of activity, go on in the 14 small little clubhouse, in the raw field without the markings, in the big stadiums, 15 in all of those towns. 16 17 Up to recently people with disabilities were on the side line, wearing the county 18 colour, wearing the club colour, getting involved, involved in the fundraising and 19 the support that the people involved in sport, that they support it. 20 21 What we're now seeing is the people with disabilities are becoming involved in the 22 sport themselves and that's vitally important. 23 24 Mary Davis is here with us this morning and Mary is going to be one of your keynote 25 speakers. Mary has a reputation in relation to disability I think that is far and 26 above anything that any of us involved in politics could possibly achieve. 27 28 She has been involved with Special Olympics all her life as far as I can remember, 29 Jean Spain tells me so. And she has brought Special Olympics to Ireland, again a 30 major achievement, and a spectacular event. 31 32 I know Mary now doesn't want me to mention that she was involved in a particular 33 election recently, but let me tell you, as someone who has stood in elections all of 34 my life, been successful in some, and unsuccessful in others, and unsuccessful in Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 4 1 others! I think we can never over estimate the value of people standing, putting 2 their ideas forward and actually taking that risk. 3 4 And I have always maintained that the value of our democracy is those who stand, 5 there sometimes is only one winner, but those who stand are as valuable to our 6 democracy as anyone else. And I salute people who stand and I salute Mary Davis in 7 that respect, she is a remarkable woman with great courage and I think she deserves 8 our support. 9 10 I have always felt that people with disabilities should be at the centre of what we 11 do. At the centre of what we do! I always make the point that for instance if I had 12 someone making decisions on my behalf without consulting me, I think I would find it 13 most frustrating and annoying. 14 15 What we see with this particular conference, what we see with the federation European 16 wide and what we see in Tralee Institute of Technology is that concept being put into 17 practice. Training people, training people to apply physical activity and ensuring 18 that when they come across people who have a physical or intellectual disabilities 19 that it is not a barrier, that it is part and parcel of what they do, an ensuring 20 that those people come into the centre of that activity. 21 22 We all know that those of us who have leisure time -- I don't any more unfortunately, 23 but I hope to in the future again! But those of us who do have leisure time, where do 24 we spend it? In activity such as sports, leisure centres and the other things that 25 we like to support along the way. 26 27 Why should we exclude people with disabilities from that? Why should they be 28 excluded? And it's not as if they all want to go swimming, and it's not as if they 29 all want to go playing hockey or with rebel wheelers all wanting to go playing 30 basketball or football. What we need to do is start asking them what sport are you 31 interested in? What would you like to do? How will we manage this? How will we 32 develop it? How will we ensure that the barriers that we put in place -- that we put 33 in place -- can be taken down? And that's really what this is all about. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 5 1 It is about looking at how we'll do things in order to ensure that those who have a 2 disability can become involved and will be part and parcel of what we do. 3 4 And not alone will it include the social element of it, but as we hear time and time 5 and time again, physical activity is good for our health, good for our mental health, 6 good for our physical health, so clearly it must be good for both mental and physical 7 health of people with disabilities as well. 8 9 So if we're serious about ensuring that people live longer, stay healthier and are 10 happier, then we must include everyone in what we do. 11 12 I was involved in the women's movement for a long number of years, and we always had 13 a saying that we were different but equal, I think that can be applied as well to 14 people with disabilities. Different but equal. 15 16 Equally, we set out as a group of women to say that you must be blind to gender, 17 whilst putting the positive supports in place in order to ensure that the playing 18 pitch, which was very uneven, becomes more even. We need to do that with disability 19 as well. 20 21 I keep saying to people that people with disabilities are not that different from the 22 rest of us, they don't want to live in the pigeon hole of health, they don't want to 23 live in the pigeon hole of justice, they want to live in exactly the same space that 24 we live in, exactly the same space. 25 26 The difficulty is that we have put a whole around that space. And we need to take 27 that wall down. 28 29 The NDA, the National Disability Authority who do tremendous work in terms of 30 planning, development and research, enormous resources, tells me that they have now 31 become engaged with architects and the national institute of architects in order to 32 ensure that the type of design and planning that we'll look at in the future will 33 take all of those things into consideration. We'll ensure that when a building is 34 now being designed, reconfigured, or indeed built on a green field site, that the Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 6 1 needs of people who might have a physical, sensory or any of the disabilities will be 2 taken into consideration. 3 4 Now we keep talking about people who have enormous talent in this country and that's 5 very true, we have an enormously talented population. Surely allowing accessibility 6 can't be that difficult? Can't be that difficult! And we must ensure -- we must 7 ensure that our planners, our architects, our educators, our health specialists must 8 figure into the equation of that delivery of service, people who have a disability. 9 10 I have responsibility for four different areas, Brendan Howlin calls me the Minister 11 for everything else! I sometimes dread picking up the phone to the Tanaiste in case 12 he is going to figure out we need a Minister for another particular area and I'm just 13 the one he wants. I think I have enough to do with the four I have and I don't 14 intend to get any more! 15 16 But I do think that when we start looking at the different ranges, the entire range 17 of how we live our lives and I have responsibility as well for older people, as we 18 grow older, and that's something we should be very thankful for, because some people 19 are not that lucky, some people don't make it to old age and those of us that will 20 make it to old age, should consider it a plus, and when we talk about older people, 21 we shouldn't automatically think of burden, we should think of contribution. 22 23 But as we grow older, we will acquire a disability, very few of us will not. Whether 24 it's to sight, hearing, to fall and break the hip, knee replacement, all of those 25 things. We'll acquire a disability. So it's not as if people with disabilities are 26 some cohort out there and separate from us -- separate from us. They are part of 27 what we are, part of community, part of the entire population and we are only 28 beginning to realise that we need a plan to include, we need to plan to include. 29 30 And that inclusion, once it starts, and once we start putting the building blocks in 31 place, will be significant and there will be no going back. There will be no going 32 back. But central to all of that is asking the person themselves. The looking into 33 your heart, which in most cases was a very good thing, and deciding in conscience 34 what the other person needed, has to go, it has to go. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 7 1 2 When I talk to the parents of people with disability and they are very worried about 3 people with disabilities being allowed to make decisions for themselves, but what if 4 they make the wrong decision? I say, I've four kids, they are adults now, and I'll 5 tell you they've made some choices I wouldn't agree with and they don't have a 6 disability, that's what life is. We make decisions and sometimes we make choices, 7 which turn out to be the wrong choice and I think people with disabilities have ever 8 right to make the wrong choice as well. But we'll never know that unless we talk to 9 them. 10 11 You've probably gathered from the accent I'm from Cork! I'm very proud of being from 12 Cork by the way. How come I'm proud of being from Cork? Proud of the fact that from 13 time to time Cork beats Kerry on matches I often say if we concentrated on one sport 14 we'd be unbeatable, but we have two and in Kerry they have only one, I'm only saying 15 that! 16 17 Could I say in terms of being from Cork and being proud of both women and people with 18 disabilities I was incredibly proud during the week to see Joanne O'Riordan being 19 invited to address the UN in terms of disability and technology, young woman, 16 20 years of age from Cork -- but no matter where she is from, I was just so incredibly 21 proud to see her Joanne was born without limbs and she says "no limbs, no limits!" 22 Which is a great way to be, when I started off my political career someone said to 23 me, you need to learn standing orders. I said if I learn standing orders I said I'd 24 have to obey them, so we let that go. 25 26 So no limbs no limit has a resonance with me that I think is incredible. Joanne 27 talks about technology and how it assisted her in her life and how with technology 28 there are no limits to what she can do, she is an incredibly articulate and bright 29 young woman. And you know, where else could you marry the two things of vision, 30 ambition and technology other than in an institution of technology. 31 32 I think the combination of that, the combination of those things will make the future 33 limitless. We can apply all sorts of things to how we view disability, but really 34 what we should be saying to ourselves is how do we view the world? And the blue sky Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 8 1 thinking, the type of thinking that had Martin Luther King saying "I have a dream" 2 surely we are all entitled to dreams? And surely we are all entitled to have not 3 just our dream fulfilled, but the fact that we should be allowed to fulfill our 4 ambition to its fullest potential. Surely that's what the world should be about. 5 6 We're sending people to the moon, we are looking at Mars, I'm a great advocate of 7 Galileo, who did not look down, he looked up and when he looked up he saw 8 unimaginable things and that's what we should be doing. 9 10 Thinking the unimaginable and with the resources that we have at our disposal we 11 should be able to deliver all of those. 12 13 I hope that you will go away from this conference inspired, inspired with a new view 14 of the world and a view of the world which will be inclusive and which will ensure 15 that those that depend on us to be generous, to be generous not just with our 16 imagination, but with our space and with our time, that they will be the 17 beneficiaries of what comes out of this weekend, they will be the beneficiaries. 18 19 And don't do to ourselves what we did to people with disabilities, do not put a limit 20 -- do not put a limit on your achievements. Do not do that. Ensure that people with 21 disabilities are at the centre of what you are thinking about and for them and with 22 them, think, think the unimaginable and I know you will achieve it. Thank you very 23 much. 24 25 MR O'FLYNN: Thank you Minister and thank you for your support which let me tell you, 26 has gone a lot further than mere kind words. 27 28 It's time now to hear from our host, the Institute of Technology Tralee. It's 29 migrate pleasure to introduce a man who has been a long time supporter of Adapted 30 Physical Activity, placing the CARA APA centre at the very heart of his institution 31 and he has big plans which he is about to tell you about, to go even further. Ladies 32 and gentlemen, the President of IT Tralee, Dr Oliver Murphy. 33 34 Dr Murphy: (welcome in Irish language) Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 9 1 2 Minister, members of the governing body, public representatives, invited guests, 3 representatives from partner agencies and all of you who commit your lives to 4 providing equity and accessibility to physical activity for all, I welcome you to 5 this European Congress of Adapted Physical Activity. 6 7 In particular I would like to extend a warm welcome to Minister Kathleen Lynch and 8 thank her for the help and support we received from her. 9 10 It is indeed a great honour for the institute to host this conference, particularly 11 given that it is the first time the event has been held in Ireland. 12 13 The Institute of Technology Tralee has worked to transform the landscape in Ireland 14 in terms of capacity building and empowerment to facilitate the inclusion of people 15 with disability in physical education, sport, fitness and recreation, and our 16 achievements to date have been recognised both nationally and internationally for 17 excellence and innovation. 18 19 This conference will give us a wonderful opportunity to network, and I have no doubt 20 that some of the presentations will influence how many of us approach future work and 21 engagement with communities. You will leave with new ideas, gleaned from the 22 knowledge of this exceptional grouping of national and international experts. 23 24 The institute has an impressive track record of achievement in Adapted Physical 25 Activity and the institute has developed, led and directed a multitude of successful 26 initiatives such as: The hosting of the national APA conferences since 2003, one of 27 the first Higher Educational Institutes in Ireland to run an honours undergraduate 28 programme in APA and I'm proud to say the first cohort of those students graduated 29 last October, the development of an MSc programme in APA with Palacky University in 30 the Czech Republic, the invitation by UNESCO in 2011 to present on inclusion at the 31 expert symposium of quality physical education, Campabilities Ireland which provides 32 children with vision impairments with the opportunity to participate in a range of 33 physical activities within a residential setting. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 10 1 As the knowledge base and expertise in the institute has grown, APA has moved to the 2 centre of our strategic focus as a core specialist area, in November 2007 and in 3 response to the nationally recognised gap in the provision of sport, physical 4 activity and physical education for people with disabilities, CARA, the national 5 Adapted Physical Activity centre was established at IT Tralee, supported by the Irish 6 Sports Council and the Institute of Technology, CARA Adapted Physical Activity centre 7 is the national resource centre aimed at coordinating, facilitating and advocating 8 for the inclusion of people with disabilities throughout Ireland in sport, physical 9 activity and physical education. The location of CARA in IT Tralee is a testament to 10 the institute's progressive, proactive community centred policies. 11 12 In 2007 the institute secured a grant aid to lead a European project aimed at 13 developing a teaching resource for the training of undergraduate PE teachers across 14 Europe. The European Inclusive Physical Education Training EIPET project was a two 15 year transfer of innovation project funded through the lifelong learning programme of 16 the European Union. This programme is based on the successful Adapted Physical 17 Activity modules designed at IT Tralee and developed with Sports Coach UK, Lithuanian 18 Academy of Physical Education, Palacky University. The EIPET online course was 19 launched in 2009 and it is available at no cost to any third level institution that 20 prepares PE teachers. We are particularly proud that this programme now is being 21 used in Ireland, Iceland, Spain, UK and Finland. 22 23 Following the success of EIPET and the consequent international acclaim and 24 affirmation afforded to the APA specialism at IT Tralee we are commit to further 25 pursuing international research and intervention projects. 26 27 This year we are seeking Edu-link funding to continue the roll out of EIPET resources 28 in the Caribbean and Africa. We are also preparing an application for European 29 Commission funding to develop the outcomes of the previously mentioned VET project. 30 31 In conjunction with a number of national partners CARA and the institute is 32 developing an APA national training and education framework. These partners are 33 detailed with in the literature provided for the conference. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 11 1 To build on the progress to date, the immediate plans for the institute include the 2 development of a new international sports academy building. This 16 million euro 3 facility will represent an example of universal design and best practice in terms of 4 both physical amenities and operation of services for APA. The academy will house 5 teaching, sporting, cultural and recreational facilities. This will ensure 6 participation for all in a diverse range of sport. This facility will become an 7 examplar of best practice both nationally and internationally. And will enable us to 8 achieve our goal to be an internationally recognised centre of excellence, to enable 9 us achieve this goal the institute is currently seeking philanthropic funding. 10 11 The national centre for Adapted Physical Activity CARA will be housed in the proposed 12 centre thus furthering the university access goal through it's role in coordinating, 13 facilitating and advocating for the inclusion of people with disabilities throughout 14 Ireland in sport, physical activity and physical education. 15 16 The institute has just submitted an application to UNESCO for category 2 centre 17 designation. Our aim is to coordinate a unified action towards the lives of people 18 with disabilities, their families and communities through enabling their inclusion in 19 physical education, sport, fitness and recreation. This will be achieved by means of 20 education, advocacy and collaboration between higher education institutions, 21 federations, development agencies, service providers, users and industry. I would 22 like to thank all those here today who have partnered with us in this UNESCO 23 application. 24 25 I would like to thank all those involved in organising this congress, particularly 26 Niamh Daffy, Linda Raymond, Liam McDonagh, Ursula Barrett and a special thanks to Pat 27 Flanagan. 28 29 I hope that you find this conference enlightening and fulfilling. And that you will 30 all take home with you examples of best practice that you will in turn use to improve 31 the lives of others. 32 33 Enjoy your stay with us here in Kerry. Make sure you take the opportunity to explore 34 and enjoy our hospitality, wonderful natural amenities and rich cultural heritage. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 12 1 Thank you. 2 3 MR O'FLYNN: Thank you Oliver, congratulations on all the institute has achieved so 4 far and best of luck with your future plans. 5 6 Minister Lynch has to leave us now, Minister thanks again for taking time out of your 7 busy schedule, Minister Kathleen Lynch. Thank you. 8 9 Our next speaker is a man at the forefront of European APA, he is a good man, a wise 10 man, wise enough to award this congress to Ireland. Ladies and gentlemen, the 11 President of the European Federation of Adapted Physical Activity, Dr Martin 12 Kudlacek. 13 14 DR KUDLACEK: Failte roimh go lear. 15 16 First the congress of European Physical Activity was held in year 1986, when I was 17 thinking about that and I was thinking what I was doing in the year 1986? And to be 18 honest ... I didn't know a word of English, I lived 5 kilometres from the border with 19 Austria and I was nearly arrested because I was suspicious at that time, I don't know 20 why! I used to have long hair, maybe that's why. 21 22 So it is 26 years, I believe this movement, European movement of Adapted Physical 23 Activity made a long way. When I think again about myself and you can think about 24 yourself, where when you were 26 years old and growing in the development of Adapted 25 Physical Activity and sports science, you can reflect where were you when you were 26 26? Most likely you had a lot of dreams, a lot of ambitions and hopefully you didn't 27 think too much about limits. 28 29 When I was 26 I thought I can go from the Czech Republic to America, learn about 30 Adapted Physical Activity and teach it back home. I learned that the most I have 31 learned was actually back home in the Czech Republic. And I'm glad we are learning 32 to appreciate the differences and good examples that we have in Europe. 33 34 This is a tough time, 2012 everybody talks about bad times and recession and Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 13 1 austerity, so there are not many good news on television, or maybe I am watching 2 wrong television, I don't know, reading wrong newspapers! But when I am here in year 3 2012 I don't feel so bad. I don't think the times are as bad as media is drawing 4 them, I see a lot of talented people that work hard, very hard, regardless of when 5 their pay cheques are being cut at their universities that makes me feel good, it 6 shows me there is a lot of talent in Europe and that Europe and Adapted Physical 7 Activity will be prospering. 8 9 There are a lot of examples of good practice and I believe we'll be learning from 10 them. When we discussed yesterday at the board meeting with EUFAPA board members, I 11 would like to thank them for the hard work they do in between the conferences, this 12 is like party time, we come together and we can actually share and see each other and 13 talk, but there is a lot of work in between conferences, so I would like to thank 14 them all the board members and Irish team that did tremendously good job to prepare 15 such a good conference. 16 17 We talk about Adapted Physical Activity based on two main pillars, one is science, 18 scientific inquiry and one is professional development. They are the two areas that 19 I believe we'll be learning and growing together. 20 21 We'll get a lot of inspiration at this conference from examples of good practice, a 22 lot of challenges, I hope we'll challenge each other colleagues if our scientific 23 inquiry is going in the right direction and if it's rigid enough. And I hope we also 24 will be working very hard on building our friendships. Over a pint of Guinness or 25 good Irish music, in the practical rooms or in the theoretical lectures. 26 27 And what is most important, we should keep positive thinking. I think there is not a 28 single person here that does not have tremendous talent and I'm excited to learn 29 about these talents and I'm excited and proud that EUFAPA decided to have this 30 conference in Ireland so thank you very much. 31 32 MR O'FLYNN: Thank you Dr Kudlacek. It's time now to hear from our main man, the man 33 most responsible for promoting APA in Ireland. Pat Flanagan is a lecturer in APA 34 here in Kerry since 1995, he started the first academic course in the subject, Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 14 1 founded the CARA national APA centre and oversees the European training project. A 2 warm welcome please for the congress Chairman Pat Flanagan. 3 4 MR FLANAGAN: Thank you very much, very kind words, I'll be very brief I'm looking 5 forward to listening to Mary Davis in her keynote speech. 6 7 Very quickly, when Martin mentioned 1986 I start to feel very old! In 1986 I was 8 teaching a PE programme and a colleague of Mary Davis and people like Terrence 9 McSweeney, Susan McGill who runs a centre for adults with intellectual disabilities 10 and Special Olympics clubs rang me to say that she wanted to bring her adults to 11 share a PE programme with my students and we started share a PE programme in 1986 and 12 it still runs today and her call and her interest in sharing physical education with 13 adults with intellectual disabilities, with students who didn't have a disability but 14 needed to find out what it was like to know someone with a disability and share the 15 PE programme, so I felt very old when Martin said what we were doing in 1986, maybe 16 too aware of it! 17 18 But very quickly, can I just acknowledge the Minister's speech earlier on to me is a 19 most significant speech that I have heard from any Minister or any political person 20 in this country ever in relation to disability. It was absolutely powerful. It's 21 very significant that someone at that level has that level of understanding of 22 listening to the voice of people with disabilities and we're delighted that she is a 23 friend of our work here and a supporter of CARA and the IT Tralee. 24 25 And another supporter is about to speak to you, Mary Davis, launched EIPET and 26 Special Olympics and all it's would work was really the only game in town in Ireland 27 for many years since 1978 in relation to the provision for people with disabilities, 28 its work and the hosting of the 2003 games allowed us to develop our APA programmes, 29 it was on the back of that kind of profile and that promotion that allowed us develop 30 our programmes at IT Tralee. 31 32 I want to finish with three things. The Minister and Martin mentioned it as well, 33 mentioned challenges. I'd like to give you three challenges for the three days. The 34 three challenges I'd like to give you at the end of this conference, could we answer Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 15 1 three questions. 2 3 Number one, what can I do to increase the level of physical activity and the quality 4 of physical activity participation of people with disabilities in my country? What 5 can I do to affect change and increase participation? 6 7 Number two, and it follows the Minister's statements, how can we, I, all of us, 8 engage with people with disabilities to guide and direct our APA programmes, teaching 9 and research? How can we listen to the voice of people with disabilities, a phrase 10 often used, nothing about us without us, that we get them to guide us on our work, 11 teaching and research. I think we'll make a major impact. 12 13 And finally, I think the biggest challenge that faces us all in adapted -- because I 14 know people in this room are hugely committed to Adapted Physical Activity and put 15 years and years of work and dedication into it, but there is an area which we need to 16 address and the third challenge is how in ten years time at EUCAPA 2022, Martin I'm 17 sure will be president at that stage as well, in EUCAPA 2022 how many of the people 18 in the audience will be professionals working and delivering in the area of APA, but 19 who have a disability? And that is our major challenge. 20 21 One of the talks at the congress is Kevin Smith from the national network on our 22 organising committee as well, one of the programmes we have linked with is a 23 programme called Sporting Chance, a bridging programme to allow people with 24 disabilities to join the leisure sports, physical education professions, initially 25 through a programme at the national learning network and then to go on to third level 26 or work in the industry. That's our big challenge. We need to invite people with 27 disabilities to participate and we need to encourage them to go on and become 28 coaches, instructors, teachers and leaders in APA. 29 30 That's a tough challenge, it will be a difficult conference but an enjoyable 31 conference, hopefully at the plenary session at the end we might have some answers 32 that we'll all take away with us to try and achieve some of those or meet some of 33 those challenges. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 16 1 Thank you very much and enjoy the conference. Thank you. 2 3 MR O'FLYNN: Thanks Pat and thanks to all our hosts here this morning. It's time now 4 to get to work, to begin the real business of the congress and time to welcome our 5 first keynote speaker. 6 7 When we talk of advocacy in Ireland and particularly the championing of people with 8 disabilities one woman stands above all others. 9 10 Mary Davis is president and Managing Director of Special Olympics Europe Eurasia, she 11 is the former CEO of Special Olympics Ireland and was Chief Executive for 2003 12 Special Olympics World Summer Games, she is in addition heading the government task 13 force on active citizenship and the north/south consultative conference. 14 15 She is a busy lady but she is here to talk to us, ladies and gentlemen, Mary Davis. 16 17 MS DAVIS: Thank you very much Niall for that introduction, just while we are getting 18 organised here with the screen and the overheads, good morning everybody. Our Céad 19 Mile Failte, that means hundred thousand welcomes, to our overseas visitors. 20 21 So say I'm delighted to be here and to join in with the previous speakers in 22 welcoming you all here and I hope you have a most enjoyable stay, you couldn't come 23 to a better part of Ireland, to the south coast and the beauty that there is right 24 here in Killarney. So a great welcome. 25 26 When Martin was mentioning thereabout 1986 and where we were and what we were doing? 27 I really did feel very old, because long before that I became involved with Special 28 Olympics straight out of college indeed as the Minister said, in 1978. 29 30 Then when Pat Flanagan spoke, indeed I want to take the opportunity to congratulate 31 Pat, I know the President of the college spoke about him, but he really was a trail 32 blazer in relation to the provision of opportunities and services and training and 33 courses and initiating all that and having the vision and foresight to see that this 34 needed to be done and not just thinking about it and talking about it, but actually Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 17 1 getting up and doing something about it. 2 3 But when he was speaking briefly to you he spoke about Susan McGill a colleague of 4 mine, a physical education specialist, she worked in County Waterford and when Susan 5 started to work in the area, as I did, back then in 1978 and 1979 we had nowhere to 6 turn. As specialists we just didn't really know how to approach the whole area of 7 special needs, special education, special physical education, adapted physical 8 education as it became then. 9 10 I was talking to Pat last night he was telling me the story about when he met Susan 11 initially, she said her first class, she had a group around doing some exercise with 12 them and she was showing them exactly what to do and nobody was doing it, none of 13 them were doing it except this one person, one student Alfred Marks, because Alfred 14 had been in England and had participated in a physical activity programme in the 15 school that he was in, in England but everybody else, all the Irish students there in 16 that special needs school in the Brothers of Charity in Waterford just had no idea 17 what to do. 18 19 So when you look back then, 30 years ago and you see what we have now, you have to 20 say that indeed we have come a long way, and it was that thinking that innovation of 21 Pat and wonderful team that he has in the institute. And many other people, like the 22 Susan McGill's of this world that we mentioned to you as well. Coming together and 23 trying to make change happen and coming up with innovative ideas, that has really 24 brought us from those times 30 years ago of aspiration, to the wonderful many 25 achievements that were mentioned and that I will be mentioning again, that we have 26 today. 27 28 And even though we still can stay there is an awful lot more to be done, yes of 29 course there is an awful lot more to be done and we must always have an urgency and 30 we must always have the interest and the enthusiasm and the creativeness that the 31 Minister spoke about as well, to keep going, until we do have a truly integrated and 32 inclusive society for everybody. And I think that's the great thing about having 33 conference here, it gives us that ambition and it gives us that courage, Misneach we 34 call it in Irish, courage to go on and keep doing things. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 18 1 2 I was fortunate enough as well to finish off my studies in the University of Alberta 3 in Canada and I know that Donna Goodwin is here I'd like to obviously particularly 4 welcome her, I didn't get a chance to meet her last night, but that was my first 5 introduction, a very short, just a couple of weeks course on adapted physical 6 education, but it certainly did help me in a way to get started when I started my 7 career working as a teacher in St. Michael's House. 8 9 So just to go on then to a little bit of detail on what I am doing at the moment, and 10 what we cater for. I work with Special Olympics Europe Eurasia, that is one of 7 11 regions around the world, I know there are many people here not just from Europe in 12 representing 33 countries that are here but from other parts of the world as well, 13 just so you are aware that there is a regional office in 7 regions right across the 14 world. 15 16 But in Europe Eurasia we have 58 countries stretching from Ireland and Iceland all 17 the way over to the borders of China, and we work with over half a million athletes 18 and thousands and thousands of volunteers and family members and teachers, and 19 coaches and we have introduced 31 sports to all of the Special Olympics athletes that 20 participate in the programme. 21 22 We have a staff of 21 and the main office for Europe and Asia is here in Ireland, 23 it's based in Dublin, but we have a small office in Brussels and in Warsaw and also 24 in Cologne where we coordinate a lot of our research projects out of that office. 25 26 Our job is really all about supporting the national programme so there will be a 27 national Special Olympics programme in each of those 58 countries and our job as a 28 team and my colleague Marian Murphy is with me this morning and she works very 29 closely with all the countries in building capacity, in developing the programme, 30 encouraging them to increase the number of people, to find and provide places and to 31 provide opportunities and skills development and to help them to become better known 32 and better funded, because we do find that awareness is very important and we have 33 been working with agencies like the EU and with Sean Kelly here, the MEP that joined 34 us as well today, and I know that will be speaking to you later on in the week, Sean Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 19 1 has been a tremendous help to us in securing more resources and opportunities through 2 the EU to assist us in the work that we are doing. 3 4 But in addition to the sports, we offer a number of initiatives also and you will see 5 some of those on the screen, because we believe that the health of the athlete is 6 very, obviously critically important to their performance, and to the quality of 7 their experience and therefore we offer on a volunteer basis a health screening 8 programme at all of our events. 9 10 We also offer an education programme in schools and communities to educate people on 11 disability, on Special Olympics and encouraging them to become involved with us in 12 the programme, but more than that, also to raise their consciousness to raise their 13 awareness in terms of inclusivity. 14 15 We believe in empowering Special Olympics athletes so we offer an athlete leadership 16 programme also and then more recently we have begun to introduce young athlete 17 programme, together with a family programme for athletes from young children from the 18 age of two to six, because as we all know, if you do get involved in activities at a 19 very young age, the chances are that you will continue that later on in your life as 20 well. 21 22 So in addition to the day-to-day training opportunities and all of these other 23 initiatives and activities that we offer through the Special Olympics programme, we 24 also offer a number of competitions at local and regional and national and 25 international level. For example in Europe we had a European games in Poland in 2010 26 and the next games are in 2014 in Belgium. And our last world games was in Athens 27 last year. 28 29 Now I'm going to show you a very short clip of a World Games, I could have chosen a 30 World Games from anywhere that they have been organised in the last, since 1968 but I 31 did choose to show you the clip from the world games that were held here in 2003, I 32 know many people in the room were very involved in those games and the theme that I'm 33 talking about is really all about partnerships and people networking and people 34 working together, and it was the coming together of the government of the time, the Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 20 1 EU, the corporate community, the thousands and thousands of volunteers and coaches 2 and family members that worked on that project and the thousands of agencies and 3 groups that came together that truly made it a success. 4 5 And the reason we did it is because we felt that it would move along the whole area 6 of awareness and involvement and inclusion more than we could ever do in the daily 7 work and in what we were trying to achieve, and that was our whole motivation for 8 saying why don't we just try to organise a World Games? It seemed like a bizarre 9 thing at the time to try and do in a small country like this, but anyway, we went 10 ahead and did it and it became one of the most successful games that have ever been 11 held in the history of Special Olympics. 12 13 So hopefully, if the technical bits work now, or my technical person can come back up 14 again, just to change this onto the short video. No? 15 16 There we go. 17 18 19 20 Maybe I'll be brave enough to do it myself! 21 22 (Video playing.) 23 24 Well there you go, you got a bit of Irish culture, music and everything thrown in 25 there as well. 26 27 Now we have to escape and get back out again! 28 29 So that just breaks up all the talk as well, just to allow to you see something 30 visually is always very nice, but I am as I said a huge believer in the power of 31 team, the power of groups, the power of people coming together, working together to 32 make something happen and I believe as long as we can have that sort of joint effort 33 and relationships that we can achieve anything that we wish to achieve in our lives. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 21 1 And during the conference we are talk to about a range of the subject matter around 2 the area of Adapted Physical Education or Adapted Physical Activity, rehabilitation 3 sports or research, etcetera, etcetera over the next couple of days and they are all 4 very much connected and we've got to see the commonalities, the things that we can 5 share together because it is in a joint effort that we have a much stronger voice and 6 a louder voice that can enable us to achieve what it is we want to achieve, that is 7 positive change and progress. 8 9 This is really why organising the conference here, and it's just so important and it 10 gives us all the chance, the opportunity to get together and to work together, not 11 just in the formal sessions, but in the many informal sessions that you will be 12 having as well. It's a chance to expand our networks and to tackle common challenges 13 and identify solutions and I have no doubt that all of us will make the best possible 14 use of that. 15 16 Just to go back to some of the partnerships and I know that a lot of them were 17 mentioned this morning already in great detail so I'm not going to go into them, but 18 just to mention them, one of the first great developments in the area as well was 19 through coaching Ireland, you can see the slide there, the materials and the modules 20 that have I think three different modules developed through Coaching Ireland, but 21 that happened because there was an inclusive group of all the disability 22 organisations that came together, together with the Sports Council, I see Peter Smith 23 here from the Sports Council, and there is a great integration and co-operative 24 effort there as well and with the local sports partnerships and Sports Council in the 25 North of Ireland as well, Sport Northern Ireland, and it was that coming together 26 that created that "Coaching for People With Disabilities" manual that you see there 27 and that is now so useful for, in helping national governing bodies of sport to 28 provide the specific coaching and training that is required. 29 30 And is it successful? Well the manuals are there. Now the challenge is getting 31 people to actually use them and getting national governing bodies to incorporate them 32 into their own training. And it is happening in some cases and that's fantastic, 33 where it is happening. But it isn't happening in others and it's our job to push 34 that and to ensure that every national governing body does include these modules as Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 22 1 part of the training that they offer. 2 3 There is also the CARA Centre we talked and referred to that, but there is the 4 national training and education framework that's there, another great initiative that 5 is being developed and being led by the institute in Tralee, and I know that Liam 6 McDonagh from the CARA Centre is going to be talking about that in one of the 7 sessions during the next couple of days, so you have the opportunity to get to know 8 more about that. 9 10 Some of the strands of the framework focus on we also referred to earlier the EIPET, 11 the European Inclusive Physical Education Training module and when I look at that key 12 that has all that knowledge that you see on the slide, that has all that knowledge 13 and resource and training and education possibilities in it, I really do think back 14 to those times in the late 70s early 80s and how we wished we just -- we were eager 15 to have something like that and we didn't, and it's so great now to think that you 16 have that just simple key that can give you -- open up a whole gate way of 17 opportunity in terms of training and resources, not just for the trainers themselves 18 for the people with disabilities that we work with and work also in the area. 19 20 And you heard, I think it was the President say that it's in five countries the EIPET 21 module already, that will be extended and I'm delight to hear that is going to be 22 extended and if we can spread the message in relation to that out into as many 23 countries as possible, then I think that would be great also. 24 25 Again in terms of partnerships what we try to do in our work is work with all of the 26 European agencies so whether it's FIBA Europe or European Basketball or UEFA, we have 27 nine agreements signed with European federations of sport and we continue to do that 28 in all of the sports we're involved with. Similarly, so then we encourage the 29 national programmes for Special Olympics to have the same partnership and 30 collaborative approach with the federations, the sports federations in their country, 31 and it's when you do have that close collaboration and working relationship that you 32 then find that governing bodies will begin to include some of the modules that were 33 spoken about earlier. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 23 1 One of the programmes that I was very excited to start, it started around about 2010 2 was a collaboration with the University of Ulster and using the University of Ulster 3 to help Special Olympics in some of the research that we were undertaking. And 4 really you see it very much as networking, research, as consultancy and also the 5 provision of education and training, and I know that the university now are involving 6 PhD students, I think some of them are here, I know that some members of the 7 university are going to be presenting on some of the research that they have done in 8 conjunction with us, but there you see us at the European games in Poland in 2010 9 signing the official agreement in the presence of Timothy Shriver with the 10 university. 11 12 And to me that's a great step forward, we want to encourage more universities to work 13 collaboratively with the University of Ulster so for any of you here that are 14 interested in that I know David Hassan will be speaking during the conference from 15 the university and please do take the opportunity to talk to them and become involved 16 in some way as well. 17 18 And one of the research pieces that they did do was in the whole area of unified 19 sport because unified sports are something that we have introduced many years ago 20 into Special Olympics programme, because Special Olympics can sometimes be perceived 21 as a segregated organisation and not a good thing because it's not inclusive, well 22 our philosophy is that we want to provide the skills and opportunities with the 23 ultimate aim of Special Olympics athletes being totally integrated and included in 24 community and society at large. 25 26 And as a step towards that we have introduced a very successful unified programme, 27 basically in schools and leisure centres, etcetera, where students of equal ability 28 with and without a disability, an intellectual disability can participate together 29 and that's been a hugely successful programme for us, anecdotally of course, but we 30 wanted the research to back that up as well, so we did engage with the University of 31 Ulster to help us to under take a study in that area and it was a very -- I think 32 there were 200 participant, qualitative study across five countries and these are 33 some -- I'll just show you a snippet of some of the findings, you can see certainly 34 if you're interested get all of the findings online. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 24 1 2 But again you can see there is nothing new in terms of the findings and what being 3 involved in a unified programme can do in terms of the sports skills and improving 4 the sports skills of the athletes but also personal skills and having the opportunity 5 to play with people that don't have a disability and interact with them socially and 6 the confidence and self esteem and discipline that that brings as well and access to 7 places, again very, very important. 8 9 And there is a lovely quote here from one of our athletes in Serbia where the study 10 was undertaken to say "We go to the town square to talk, or to the games arcade or 11 for a drink in the Cafe, these guys from the team know the places to go and where to 12 take us and whenever we have time we can do that" it just -- sport is not just the 13 physical side, but the social element and how it opens up opportunities for the 14 athletes. 15 16 Back to the relationships as well that it builds with people and with the wider 17 community, and it was interesting to look on some of the findings, the micro culture 18 within unified sports and then the culture outside of unified sports that still 19 exists, and the way in which unified sports can provide a bridge and a gateway to 20 social inclusion, so the culture within unified sports very much everybody working 21 together, the personal development, the inclusive nature of the activity and how it 22 happens and the positive representation and alliances that can be built and achieved 23 through that micro culture within. 24 25 And then outside, that there are still, and we all know, even though we say that 26 we've come a long way in 30 years, we all know that in our own countries or 27 particularly some countries, there is very much a segregated lifestyle there and 28 there are negative attitudes and low expectations towards certainly we find in our 29 area in the field of intellectual disabilities, and the how we can bring that micro 30 culture of unified sports into the greater culture and greater society. And we see 31 unified sport as a great bridge to that social -- to the barriers that still exist in 32 relation to the inclusion of people with an intellectual disabilities. 33 34 We have one partner who is involved in the unified programme saying "I am shamed to Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 25 1 say that I used to laugh at these people, now I will tell anybody to stop laughing", 2 so you can read that for yourself, but it shows you that if you're not involved, not 3 engaged you can have a much different perception sometimes than when you are totally 4 engaged. 5 6 So just to show you that again and reiterate, just the point in relation to the move 7 from unified sports then into the total culture of inclusivity which is ultimately 8 what we are striving to do and if unified sports is the way to do that, then the next 9 step is totally out of Special Olympics altogether and into community activities, 10 then that's where we would love to be. 11 12 Many of us say in our work it would be great if we were totally redundant and there 13 wasn't a need for a programme like Special Olympics because it was an every day part 14 of society and the involvement for people with an intellectual disabilities, but of 15 course we all know that that is not the case at the moment. 16 17 Here we have another partner from Poland talking about the stereotypes about people 18 with intellectual disabilities that keep us away from each other, the fears that they 19 have, but once you are part of unified programmes, the way that you can break down 20 those fears and overcome the barriers and be full participants. 21 22 Coaches play a very important part as well in helping our athletes as we know, in 23 across all types of sport and there is another quote just as part of the study from 24 one of the coaches in Hungary saying the importance, how useful the coach can 25 obviously be, not just in coaching, but in other aspects of the person's life and 26 once a trust has been built up through the unified programme and there is a belief 27 there, it's part of what they do as unified coaches. 28 29 I'm just going to show you another short video, I know we're strapped for time at the 30 moment, but I'm going to show you a short video just in relation to unified of two 31 partners, I'm going to try and do this again. Here we go. 32 33 But it's basically of two partners from Romania, who are involved in the unified 34 programme. It just gives you an idea of the interaction and how they work together. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 26 1 2 (Video playing) 3 4 So that gives you some idea of what the unified programme means to the athletes, and 5 just to finish with, I came across a wonderful story of an Israeli athlete involved 6 in the tennis centres I know there is somebody here from Israel I'm sure you are 7 familiar with the tennis centres, tennis was his first love though he was involved in 8 many other sports as well, but his great desire was to join the Israeli Army that's 9 what he wanted to do and that was his lifelong ambition, and there is a wonderful 10 picture of him with the chief of staff and the Minister of Defence because his 11 ambition was fulfilled and when you talk to him he will say that it was because of 12 the skills he had learned in tennis and in swimming, it was because of the confidence 13 he got, the self esteem and the discipline through participating in sport that that 14 is what gave him the key to being in what was his lifelong ambition, of being a part 15 of the Israeli Army. 16 17 And I thought that was just a lovely story to finish with. "Just give us a chance", 18 that's what our athletes say, and it is up to us to ensure that every opportunity 19 through the work that we are doing is provided, so that the lifelong ambitions of 20 every single person are met and everyone can take their place in society with great 21 dignity and respect. 22 23 So thank you very much, enjoy the rest of your stay here in Ireland, in Killarney, I 24 know you will have a wonderful time and I hope you have a very successful conference. 25 26 Thank you. 27 28 MR O'FLYNN: Thank you Mary Davis the best possible person I'm sure you will agree to 29 get this conference off to a great start. 30 31 I'd like to welcome too one of our senior MEPs Sean Kelly he is not speaking until 32 tomorrow but still here today, welcome Sean, another great friend of the CARA centre. 33 34 We're going for coffee break but before you rush off just small items of Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 27 1 housekeeping, each item will effect one or other of you. 2 3 Firstly the parallel sessions start at 10.45 sharp, please feel free to move around, 4 choosing the talks at every break which best suit you, all sessions are colour coded 5 to facilitate access. 6 7 There are practical workshops at every session but places are limited. 8 9 The dance workshop at 10.45 for example is now totally booked out, so to avoid 10 disappointment please sign up at the registration desk. 11 12 Take the opportunity too to sign up for our cultural programme, tonight you can 13 choose between heal to surf at Inch beach or GAA, our national games, and there is a 14 cultural programme there as well. You can also sign up for the cultural programme at 15 registration. 16 17 API Mobility for those who are interested will be doing a demo of the pool hoist in 18 the breaks between sessions and some quick notes for various groups: Can the APA VET 19 group meet at lunch please. The Scientific Committee you will be meeting at Muckross 20 B at coffee after lunch 2.35. 21 22 Can I remind the poster presenters to be at your stands from 4 pm to 5.30. Can you 23 also indicate if you wish to be part of the poster competition. 24 25 Finally, and crucially, oral presenters those of you making presentations at the 26 parallel sessions, the five of you who have not yet up loaded your presentations, 27 please do so now! You have only about 15 minutes before your session starts. 28 29 Can you be present at the start of each parallel session, and also please complete 30 and hand in to the registration desks the small information sheet relating to your 31 presentations so people will know the basis of what you are talking about and get a 32 better idea of the sessions they want to go to. 33 34 So everyone, coffee now, parallel sessions start at 10.45, see you all then. Thank Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 28 1 you very much. 2 3 Coffee break 4 5 Javier Soto Rey: Study of visual reaction time in 6 athletes with and without hearing disability: sports 7 applications: 8 9 MR SOTO REY: That's why you'll find in every session over the next three days a 10 practical workshop, teaching best practice in a sport application. 11 12 Starting system in athletics will visually stimulate deaf athletes. Adaptation is to 13 allow inclusive practice of hearing impaired athletes. Examples of competing with 14 athletes without disabilities. 15 16 Before I start to speak about reaction time, I would like to speak about the 17 importance of reaction time in sport and mention this author, Henry, Drouin, Larvier, 18 Sampedro and Martinez. 19 20 There are a lot of definitions of reaction time, but I select this, the amount of 21 time since the appearance of a stimulus to the initiation of the corresponding 22 response (Tudela). 23 24 Some studies found that people with sensory disabilities compensate for their 25 deficiencies with further development of other sensory pathway (compensation 26 mechanisms) as in the case of the deaf. 27 28 However in relation to athletic population without studies distinguishing between 29 people with and without disabilities which in our opinion with have determination 30 application on the development of inclusiveness in competition. The aim of the study 31 is to analyse the difference in reaction time to a visual stimulus in athletes with 32 and without hearing disabilities, in a sufficient sample of physically active people. 33 34 The method was -- (inaudible) methodology was used, comparing visual reaction time Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 29 1 performance to a given stimulus between a group of people with hearing impairments to 2 another group without disabilities. In addition, both groups were characterised and 3 studied in terms of gender, sport level and type of sport practiced. 4 5 The study involved 80 volunteers without disabilities, all students of the faculty of 6 physical activity and sports science INEF of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, 7 aged between 18 and 35 years, and 44 deaf athletes, volunteers from the Madrid 8 Federation of Sports for the Deaf and the Spanish Federation of Sports for the Deaf. 9 Aged between 16 and 26 years old. 10 11 They were all healthy people, all had slept enough, and did not take substances that 12 might alter reaction time, exciting or depressing substance unless an individual 13 without disability. 14 15 The final sample was composed of 79 persons for the group without disabilities of 16 which 59 were men, 74%, and 20 were women, 26% and a group of 44 hearing impaired 17 persons of whom 27 were deaf men, 61% and 17 deaf women, 39%. 18 19 A record sheet designed for the purpose of collecting data from each participant was 20 used, gender, age, practising sports, competing sport, length of time competing in 21 the given sport, medication consumption at data collection time, energy drink 22 consumption or any other substance that could alter reaction time and number of hours 23 of sleep that day. 24 25 To measure reaction time super lab pro was used, the experimental protocol was 26 experiment reception, information on the subject and completing the record, carrying 27 out the experiment with the reaction time measures (super lab). 28 29 Distribution and normality were evaluated with Kolmogorov test, normal results were 30 found for each of the variables so parametric statistics were applied. Student T 31 test for independent samples was performed. Statistical analysis were conducted in 32 SPSS version 18. Significant levels was established at P less 0.05 -- sorry for my 33 English! 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 30 1 The results this is general descriptive statistical results for visual stimuli 2 regarding group. The group without disability is 0.322 and the group of hearing 3 impaired, deaf, is 0.252. So the group of hearing impaired is 44% and the group 4 without disability is 79 person. 5 6 We're going to find the difference between men and women, there are significant 7 differences. The group with disability hearing, deaf, are -- is the best, have the 8 best results, are quicker with their reaction time than the other group. 9 10 And inside of the group without disabilities men have better results than women. 11 12 There are significant differences between groups without disabilities and with 13 disabilities in collective and in the individual sports. We can see the difference 14 in this Powerpoint. 15 16 We can see that result for person with disabilities the results are better than the 17 group without disabilities. 18 19 In conclusion, reaction time to visual stimuli was lower for hearing impaired 20 athletes than for athletes without disabilities. Reaction time visual for hearing 21 impaired athletes less than reaction times for athletes without disabilities. 22 23 We need to develop a starting system with visual stimuli instead of sound stimuli for 24 deaf athletes. This will enable them to compete on an equal situation with 25 non-disabled athletes. 26 27 Now we are going to see what this picture shows, a person with or without 28 disabilities? In the first picture we can see that he is deaf, because he has to 29 have his eyes all the time in front to remind him to view. 30 31 We have to develop the deaflympics light system, like the picture. 32 33 (Video playing) 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 31 1 The people who wear yellow shirt are deaf. 2 3 The orange line that appears in the picture, you can find better results with the 4 light design than in the other one. 5 6 We can see athletes seeing adjustments in the outputs, lighting devices, powerful 7 shot from the gun and flags, etcetera. 8 9 The red circles are the adaptation in this case, in team sports like football or 10 volley ball, adaptations to whistles, handkerchiefs, lighting devices on the back of 11 the goal posts and lights on the board etcetera. 12 13 We can see that there are some sport stars that participate in inclusive sports like 14 these sports. 15 16 In the case of the swimmer, Terrence Parkin, he used a lighting device and Miha Zupan 17 used, he has with him always his translator. 18 19 Lance Allred is the first deaf player in the NBA. 20 21 And Rajeev Bagga is the 14th ranked in IBF. 22 23 Frank Bartolillo he is deaf, he can't communicate very well with his mouth, so he can 24 communicate with his body. 25 26 Tamika, she just went deaf but now she is playing and she didn't stop playing 27 basketball. 28 29 Finally, this is the INEF, faculty of Madrid where will be CA PA 2014, so thank you 30 very much for listening, thank you very much for your attention. 31 32 End of Presentation 33 34 CHAIR: Thank you to Javier and Mia and Carmen, we have a couple of minutes and if we Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 32 1 have any questions we can take them now rather than wait until the end we may not 2 have Mia, any questions on what was a really interesting presentation, in keeping 3 with the conference evident based research, you can see the practical applications, I 4 was surprised by the level of difference in terms of performance between people with 5 disabilities, people without, it was very significant, and clearly they have 6 highlighted some of the practical applications around that. 7 8 So we'll take some questions, if anybody is interested. You are here for a reason, 9 so hopefully now here is your opportunity to join the conference. 10 11 Even one? No. Okay, well then once again I'd like you to put your hands together and 12 thank Javier and Mia and Carmen. 13 14 Our next presenter is Kevin Smith from the national learning network 15 16 We have two presenters Kevin Smith from the National Learning Network in Kerry is 17 going to present on a programme called Sporting Chance, which is a programme 18 providing education qualifications in the sport and leisure sector for people with 19 disabilities. 20 21 Kevin is the coordinator of the Sporting Chance programme here in Tralee, recently 22 completed a masters in health promotion and has a great interest in Adapted Physical 23 Activity for people with disabilities and their participation in sport. So I'd like 24 to welcome Kevin for his presentation. 25 26 Kevin Smith & Peter Bounds: 27 Sporting chance – providing education and qualifications in the sport and leisure 28 sector for people with disabilities. 29 30 MR SMITH: Good morning ladies and gentlemen, my name is Kevin Smith and I'm the 31 coordinator of the Sporting Chance in National Learning Network, this is Peter Bounds 32 over to the left-hand side, Peter is a former student of the sporting chance 33 programme and Peter is going to speak to you as well about his experiences on the 34 course as well. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 33 1 2 Sporting Chance is a course that's aimed, I use the word disabilities very broadly 3 but aim to provide people with disabilities with the qualifications and experience 4 for a career in the sport and leisure industry. We cater for people who are also 5 maybe out of work because of injury, or illness, they could be recovering from injury 6 or illness for example it could be things like Lupus, Krone's disease, people 7 recovering from cancer, heart conditions and then injuries such as Osteitis Pubis and 8 people with me reconstructions it can be injuries or disabilities, we have a wide 9 range of students on the course. 10 11 The course is two years full time and we cover a mix of theory practical and 12 community based work, so the idea is that people get a fully rounded qualification, 13 not just the theoretical qualification, but also qualifications in actual coaching 14 and practically working with people, which is very important for many of the people 15 that come in to us, because they may not have been previously involved in local 16 community groups or even at any time it may have been a while since they were 17 involved. 18 19 Just a quick background on why the course commenced, back in 2007 the course began 20 and Pat Flanagan the chairperson of the EUCAPA conference here was actually one of 21 the influences on the programme, I suppose with Pat and the manager of the National 22 Learning Network in Tralee, Pat O'Neill they had a number of informal conversation, 23 they recognised that there was a demand there for a course, in particular in the 24 National Learning Network centre there would have been a lot of people coming in with 25 a strong interest in sport, but wouldn't have felt they had confidence or 26 capabilities to go to third level, so they recognised there was a gap there. 27 28 National Learning Network was a training centre part of the Rehab Group, so part of 29 that reason the NDA did a report back in 2005 which recommends an increase in the 30 number of people with disabilities employed in the sports and leisure sector, but yet 31 there was for many people with disabilities they are still very much under 32 represented particularly at the Institute of Technology level, due to lack of funding 33 from the Higher Education Authority to provide the necessary supports required. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 34 1 For a lot of people coming out of school they were in a supported environment where a 2 lot of needs were met and then to go into third level environment where you have to 3 actually disclose your needs and you have to do educational reports if you have a 4 learning disability or mental health disability, theres a lot of work involved, not 5 just a case of going in and saying to the lecturers that we need extra supports. 6 7 So we were established in 2007 and I suppose it's slightly different than a lot of 8 other PLC courses, we see ourselves very much as a bridge way to third level, but 9 also many of our students progressed on to employment as well. 10 11 Firstly it's a two year course and that's in comparison to many PLC courses which 12 would be nine months running from September to May, so it allows people extra time to 13 gain the qualifications that might be required, and in addition to that students 14 aren't under as much pressure, for example they do an ITEC gym instruction in diploma 15 if they feel not ready for the exam they don't necessarily have to do it 16 straightaway, we can spend a little more time working with them. 17 18 In addition we have individual one-to-one supports, so in the classroom it's not 19 constant classes thrown at them, not a constant 9 to 10, 10 to 11 where there is a 20 roster there is a lot of time for self directed work and it gives us, the 21 instructors, a chance to spend one-to-one time and assist people where necessary with 22 any difficulties that they might have. 23 24 As I said already an individual can work at a pace suitable to their ability, it's 25 not a rush to get eight Fetac level five completed in an eight month period, there is 26 two years and that's a lot of time and we found it works very well and people who 27 would have come in and started at Fetac level three are now towards the end of the 28 two years and finished the major award at level 5, some of those students might have 29 thought it would never be possible. 30 31 One of the latest developments we have is a very good relationship with the college 32 in Tralee and that we have an agreement now that two places will be reserved on the 33 health and leisure courses starting in 2011, so specifically for students from the 34 National Learning Network and Sporting Chance programme. They will have the -- once Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 35 1 they meet certain criteria they will gain entry into the college. 2 3 We provide a wade range of qualifications, so Fetac modules at level 3, 4 and 5, so 4 slightly different to other PLC courses in that they are mainly just level 5, we can 5 cater for level 3 or 4 depending on the individual and they can work their way up, 6 some people started at level 3 and are now completing level 5. 7 8 We also have core modules and one of the key ones is ITEC gym instruction diploma, 9 people when they leave us are at least qualified to work in a gym environment. 10 11 One of the more unique aspects is the practical experience where people are out in 12 the community and gaining, it's not just work experience where they work in the gym 13 one day a week, we are very much involved in the community groups, one is GAA 14 coaching for children with dyspraxia where we are in partnership with HSE, 15 occupational therapy unit and twice a month we run Gaelic sessions for children who 16 might require additional sports and need additional coaching they might not get at 17 the club. 18 19 In recent times last Wednesday 19 students were assisting Darren Ahern, the officer 20 in Kerry with the national school, that was fantastic, some were refereeing, some 21 lines men and some administration, but for all it was a fantastic opportunity to see 22 how an event like that runs, there were 24 schools, 6 pitches in operation at any one 23 time. We had some students who, one of the students for example has Aspergers 24 doesn't do a whole lot of talking, but extremely knowledgeable about soccer. He has 25 almost achieved his Fetac level 5 award and refereed five games, including the final 26 of the girls competition and that gives him extreme confidence and makes him realise 27 what his abilities are, I know from talking to his family they are delighted and feel 28 the improvement, not just about qualifications but his own confidence and 29 communication skills, he is talking a lot more, spending more time at social events 30 and occasions. 31 32 Our students have also been involved in Campabilities and again that's a fantastic 33 experience in working with people with disabilities and actually leading events and 34 leading groups and there is a bit of responsibility being placed on many of our Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 36 1 students. 2 3 This is just a picture of the chair aerobics special session not only are our own 4 students benefits but all the students these are three of our students doing a class 5 with one of the other programmes, so everybody is benefiting and you are getting 6 exercise opportunities for people who might go home in the evening and not normally 7 do anything, you can see the smiles on the face, everybody is enjoying it, again 8 confidence has grown for not just the three candidates there but all 24 people that 9 we have on the programme at the moment. 10 11 I suppose again we provide a lot of supports to individuals which they may not get at 12 other PLC courses, so for example we have a resource teacher, if anybody has any 13 difficulties with reading and writing, literacy, they are small classes and it's very 14 small teacher pupil ratio and they can get up to four or five hours a week assistance 15 with their literacy skills if required. 16 17 One of the great barriers for many people with disabilities is transport and we have 18 a bus in our centre and that will collect people, it comes from north Kerry, Listowel 19 and that is about a 15 mile radius, and it will collect people in the morning and 20 drop them home in the evening, that's a significant barrier that's reduced by 21 enabling people to come to the centre. And we also have in the centre a 22 rehabilitation officer, we provide assistance with things like housing, allowances, 23 it could be getting family, getting fuel allowance -- again financial issues are a 24 big barrier for many people with disabilities coming to participate in a course like 25 ours, so that takes away a lot of the stress and allows them concentrate on getting 26 qualifications and work experience. 27 28 What I might do at this stage is let Peter talk a little about his experience from a 29 student's point of view and where maybe the course has led him and I'll just finish 30 off giving you a little on the outcomes of the course and where people ended up. 31 32 MR BOUNDS: Thank you, good morning everyone. Thanks Kevin, as Kevin said basically 33 I was a member of the Sporting Chance programme, so just in a brief explanation or 34 summary of my 12 month experience within the programme, how I came to joining and Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 37 1 coming across the programme itself, what personally for me it helped me and showed me 2 throughout the 12 months and from beyond where I have got to career change wise after 3 the programme had finished. 4 5 So if I start from the very beginning, basically what led me to the sporting chance 6 programme, from Australia myself, I came travelling 15, 16 years ago now, my wife is 7 from Tralee so I settled and stayed here, quite happily, two kids, everything going 8 smoothly, working in a sales career, I developed rheumatoid arthritis so the year 9 2009 as I said there was the year my happy home changed. 10 11 Our second child when she was born my wife had given up work, I was the sole provider 12 for the family, prior to 2009 I had been involved in the tourism industry in 13 Australia working on the Barrier Reef and I worked out in the mining industry, so had 14 done quite a range of jobs but there were none of those available to me when I came 15 over to Ireland, so I fell into the sales career, got up to management level as I 16 said everything was going smoothly. I have always been interested in sport, water 17 sports mainly on the Barrier Reef and coming from Australia you are sort of immersed 18 in that lifestyle anyway, rugby league, GAA since I have been in Ireland so there was 19 a wide interest in sport anyway. 20 21 As I said 2009 the diagnosis of the rheumatoid arthritis the main thing I had, I was 22 off work for 18 months or more until the medication improved my condition, but I had 23 a great family support which I have to pay tribute to my wife, she was wonderful 24 throughout that, but there was always a feeling of what next? I didn't really know 25 where to go next, what was available, what I was going to do as a career or as the 26 provider for the family. 27 28 I went into FÁS, which had a career assessment tool, which gave a summary of 29 interests, likes, abilities, level of academic responses to this tool that they had, 30 it brought up everything sport, everything active, involved with coaching or 31 teaching, those type of scenarios, so I was given Kevin Smith's name, so we had a 32 meeting, that was late or mid 2010 and from the word go it was actually as if you'd 33 found, come across the Lotto it was really positive. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 38 1 The first feelings that I had with meeting Kevin and his colleague, Una Flynn, the 2 doors were open, there was no hiccups at all as Kevin said, there were people there 3 for financial support discussions, there were people to discuss the options, through 4 the course what it could provide and beyond, and whether it be into a career in gym 5 instruction, coaching, further studies into the IT Tralee there was a pathway as 6 Kevin said into that stream. 7 8 So immediately it really focused the mind, focused the attention as to what to do 9 next, and that positivity helps anyone's situation whether it be just joint aches and 10 pains or a feeling of non-belonging or change of what next. So it did open up a new 11 direction and opportunity for me. 12 13 One of the major benefits, at the time when I joined I was thankfully I'm feeling 14 much better these days and medication is working for me, but at the time I was still 15 suffering from a numerous amount of flare-ups with the arthritic pain so self paced 16 learning really helped, they were very understanding and again positivity from the 17 centre itself was never anything that restricted your participation, so the self 18 paced learning really helped you achieve what you could in your own time, whether it 19 be as Kevin said throughout the whole two years or in my instance it was 12 months, 20 but the supportive staff, classmates everybody was there, you weren't sure who was 21 there for what or why, but it didn't matter. 22 23 Everyone was really helpful towards each other, in the classroom environment they 24 were small enough classes, you could then move on to smaller groups if need be, but 25 everyone supported and helped each other. 26 27 The assistance available as Kevin said, there were people there for time constraints, 28 if you need to slow down the learning you were at the level you could be, that 29 opportunity there was as well, the financial advice and any medical problems that you 30 had, they could be talked through and understood all confidential and in privacy as 31 well which was another support. 32 33 Then from it you got qualifications and practical skills to change, in my situation 34 anyway change career path, which was an amazing positive effect for my future. And Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 39 1 again for myself it gave me the pathway to further study and employment afterwards. 2 3 In my 12 months I was able to achieve the Fetac level 5 major award, there are a 4 number of areas of that eight or nine, but for instance the human biology and 5 kinetics, health related fitness, team working, sport and recreation, we had the 6 coaching from GAA and Kickstart FAI coaching, I had the gym instruction, ITEC diploma 7 and sports massage as well. 8 9 But from a personal perspective I have always been involved in water sports and water 10 activity so Halliwick was a concept I was not familiar with, I was lucky to be 11 introduced to that, I have now achieved the Halliwick instructors certificate it's 12 basically a movement in the water process founded back in the 1950s for people in 13 wheelchairs to be able to participate with the swimming carnivals and at their own 14 pace and through movement and body motion, you can swim, there is no denying it, so 15 it's a fascinating area to be in. I'm working at the moment with a hydrotherapy 16 session, which I'll come to later on, but through the Sporting Chance I was able to 17 get the swim teacher qualifications for people with disabilities, it's further -- 18 where I'm at now with the health and leisure studies, I am working for able bodied 19 people as well but it's a very rounded swimming environment that I'm focusing on. 20 21 The practical culture of the sporting chance, areas of interest are encouraged 22 whether it be water activities and hydro therapy or as Kevin mentioned one of the 23 other classmates was focused on soccer and his football, so whatever the area may be, 24 you are encouraged. If you don't know how or why or where to source those details 25 and information, Kevin and Una or others in the centre will really bend over 26 backwards to find those places for you and then they will support you along the whole 27 way. 28 29 One of my first experiences within the course was only a few weeks I was in Sporting 30 Chance I came across Surf to Heal operation that we'll be talking about later in the 31 conference, which is a fascinating and fabulous movement or programme for people on 32 the autism spectrum, it's well worth a listen to Thomas' speech later there is a 33 practical session this evening as well. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 40 1 I volunteered for that and was overwhelmed with the possibilities in that field and 2 the experience really touched me to be honest to go on that career path, I found the 3 effects of undeniable, again the Halliwick swim teacher work, experience through 4 that, I was working with Enable Ireland in Tralee, group therapy sessions for people 5 with arthritis, completely coincidental -- that was just the way it fell, but also 6 people with Spina Bifida, knee reconstructions, it was a complete wide variety of 7 people in the group. 8 9 Then Campabilities as Kevin said we were introduced to that, people with vision 10 impairments. 11 12 So after sporting chance I was fortunate enough to qualify and my grades were 13 acceptable to get onto the Bachelor of Science health and leisure in IT Tralee, I 14 have finished my first year, exams this week and next week, I'm delight to say it's 15 all going well. I was continued working with Arthritis Ireland in hydrotherapy and 16 we are running four people group sessions and then another physiotherapist in town 17 that I'm working with at the moment for one-on-one practical sessions as well within 18 the hydrotherapy pool, it's going very well, from a personal side it helps my joints 19 so it's a positive all around. 20 21 The swim teacher qualifications and initiatives we are running here in Kerry through 22 the local sports partnerships another thing I was involved and APA is my career 23 objective with IT Tralee. 24 25 Just on a final note before I bring Kevin back up to summarise again, Sporting Chance 26 really did clear the haze for me at a time when I was lost for direction, out of any 27 sort of aim for 12 or 18 months, it gave me the confidence and broad skill-set in 28 whichever field you are interested in to open the door to new opportunities and 29 experiences and it led me to the career path I'm on now, so I can't thank Kevin 30 enough now and Una for the course. 31 32 I feel everyone in the course has the same experience, whatever field or outcome they 33 have. So thank you. I'll just bring Kevin back up. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 41 1 MR SMITH: I think Peter is an example of a lot of the student who is have gone 2 through the course, fantastic attitude, came in as he said, wasn't sure where he was 3 going, but really has taken the opportunity and that's why the course initially was 4 called Sporting Chance, it's about getting a chance and taking it and Peter is one of 5 ten of our former students who have actually progressed on to third level, so we have 6 at present, we'll have two former students graduating this year with honours degrees 7 from two different colleges, IT Tralee and Waterford IT. We have been only in 8 existence since 2007 so they spent a year with us and progressed to third level 9 straightaway. 10 11 In fairness to both of them, they have come back and said that neither would have had 12 -- they felt they wouldn't have had the confidence to go into third level initially, 13 so they felt the little support they got from us gave them a bit of confidence and 14 that's what it's about for a lot of people, really giving people some skills and 15 giving them a little confidence and making them realise yes you can do it. 16 17 Again just to finish off just on the supports that we provide, the qualifications as 18 Peter said are adapted for each individual. So we have what's called continuous 19 intake, we don't take a block of people in September, basically the way the National 20 Learning Network works is if somebody finishes in June then somebody else starts in 21 June to replace them, if somebody else finishes in October somebody else starts at 22 that time to replace them, as Peter said he did 12 months other people may need two 23 years, that's up to the individual, we always say that, you don't worry about anybody 24 else, you worry about yourself, that worked very well, because it allows people that 25 they are not in a panic, no rush, see other people going out the door early, they can 26 relax and say I have the time if I need it. 27 28 As Peter said as well that's very important, with some people, maybe with an illness 29 that may flare-up from time to time they may need additional time off, that's a big 30 comfort to realise that you have that and the support is there that you can just take 31 a couple of weeks to get yourself well again because we always say health is the most 32 important thing. 33 34 Just with regards preparation for work as I mentioned already some of the practical Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 42 1 experience which has been fantastic, but only yesterday one of our current students 2 started part-time employment with a large leisure centre here in Kerry doing swim 3 teaching and he will be, hopefully there is potential for full time employment out of 4 it, so he got that from just doing the swim teaching qualification, then he got a 5 little work with Kerry Recreational Sports Partnership on the Swim For All programme, 6 he was spotted swim teaching by one of the managers of the leisure centre and they 7 are after offering him part-time paid employment. 8 9 He is just one of a number, there is six other students who also gained employment in 10 the Swim For All programme this year. So far to date in 2012 we have four of our 11 students who have gone on to employment, now that may be either paid employment or 12 could be work placement programme, but it's regarded as employment and the hope for 13 work placement programme would be that they would be kept on after it, but working a 14 full 36 hour a week jobs, so again massive progression from where many of them might 15 have been two years ago. 16 17 Just again, unique partnership with IT Tralee, we use a lot of the facilities there 18 without the support we wouldn't be able to run the programme. The HSE Occupational 19 Therapy Unit, Kerry Autism Services, FAI, they are different groups we work with and 20 they have given great support and it allows the students to become involved in 21 practical experience and as you probably know, for many people with disabilities 22 social exclusion is a big problem. So this gives people to a chance to go out and 23 work in communities. 24 25 One of the other areas we encourage strongly is in their own time, when they finish 26 in the evening time they don't go home and sit down, go to the local club and get 27 involved that worked very well where a number of students are coaching soccer and GAA 28 clubs in their home parishes, they are making contacts, getting out there and people 29 looking at them and by doing that there is a chance of gaining future employment. 30 31 Our outcomes since we started in 2007, 78% of students have progressed to employment, 32 third level or further training, for example one student specialised in massage and 33 went on to study that and gain ITEC diplomas. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 43 1 Ten students progressed to third level and eight so far to date have gained full time 2 or part-time employment. 3 4 So really what it is, it's instilling confidence and it's empowering the students to 5 set higher targets, very many people, whether they are born with a disability or 6 whether the disability is an onset throughout life, very often when they go to 7 doctors and medical services they are told they can't do something. That's very 8 often a problem we find, I can't exercise, I can't do this. 9 10 We come with the other option, yes you can. You may not be able to run a marathon, 11 but you can do something, it might be only a stretching session but you can do 12 something. So in our practical sessions we don't allow people not participate, they 13 do something, they may not be able to do the full session, but that doesn't mean that 14 you can't teach it. 15 16 So because somebody might have a bad me that doesn't mean that they can't be a good 17 coach or gym instructor. 18 19 We expect students to attain an outcome, so again taking away previous low 20 expectation, we are taking that away and saying yes you can, we are providing 21 supports and job seeking skills, setting up CVs and things like that. 22 23 I think it's proven that anybody with the right supports and with the proper 24 confidence they can achieve very highly in the sport and leisure sector both in 25 qualifications and employment. 26 27 Thanks very much for your time. 28 29 CHAIR: Thanks to Kevin and Peter for an interesting presentation, a different 30 viewpoint and I think one of the things we saw was the presentations echoed each 31 other in the sense of the ideas that they were communicating. 32 33 I think again going back to our keynotes this morning, Pat Flanagan mentioned three 34 challenges and one of the challenges was the idea that we go into 2022 that if we Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 44 1 have leaders who are people with disabilities, I think a programme like the Sporting 2 Chance programme is possibly one of those type of programmes that can help make those 3 leaders of the future. 4 5 We have a few minutes left, I don't know if anybody has any questions for Kevin or 6 Peter? I'm sure they'll be happy to take them. 7 8 Q. Just three very short questions. One; how many people are on the course at any one 9 time? Second one is, are there any other Sporting Chances in the country? And the 10 third one is, you mentioned a rehab officer and I'm just curious about the background 11 of that member of staff, what qualification that person has? 12 MR SMITH: At any one time, 24 is the maximum on the programme, we have got two 13 instructors myself and Una as Peter said, it's a one to 12 ratio but we also have 14 supports like the resource teacher so there could be, for example, six of our 15 students in with a resource teacher, so normally it's not, or people out on work 16 experience, it's not normally 24 in the class at any one time, but that number is 17 fine, we are well able to work in that. 18 19 The rehabilitation officer is the, the background, she is not a counselor, she would 20 -- I suppose the background is coming from that area but her role is as an advocate 21 for the students, so if they have any issues, it could be personal issue they need to 22 talk to her about, she is not a counselor but she'll be able to refer them in the 23 right direction. They could have personal problems at home, for example we have many 24 students with mental health difficulties just going through a bad patch, maybe not 25 being well at that particular time, she is there to guide them through that, it could 26 be allowances like disability allowance or even travel allowance or fuel allowance, 27 so any sort of assistance that they need in anyway, any information, anything really 28 she is there to try and guide them in the right direction. What was the third part? 29 30 Q. Sporting Chance anywhere else? 31 MR SMITH: My manager doesn't want me to say about any others, there is one 32 established in Castlebar in Mayo that's up and running about three months and there 33 is plans for one in Roslin Park in Head Office in Dublin as well. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 45 1 Q. Will they all be associated with National Learning Network set up? 2 MR SMITH: They are being run by National Learning Network yes, in National Learning 3 Network Castlebar and Roslin Park and we are trying to make sure ours is the one that 4 people want to come to. 5 6 But there is a need for them, regionally because in fairness, transport and 7 accommodation, although we have people who came from all over the country, Dublin, 8 Mayo, we actually have a guy from Mayo with us at the moment, Waterford. But we do 9 find that there have been a lot of people interested but just trying to get 10 accommodation, transport, being so far away from home and leaving the supports that 11 they have set up is just maybe a little too much for them, so there is need, 12 initially it was flagged maybe there might be one in Waterford, Dublin is set up and 13 one in the west as well. 14 SPEAKER: Thank you. 15 16 Q. Are any of your courses offered online or through distance or is it just full time, 17 you must attend? 18 MR SMITH: At the moment it's full time, but we are National Learning Network are 19 piloting E learning at the moment and it is hoped that there would be some moves made 20 in that direction, but I don't have a timeline on it as of yet, but it's definitely 21 something we are looking at, and a lot of our resources have gone online within the 22 organisation, so it's going very well so far, we hope at some stage it might happen. 23 24 CHAIR: So would you again put your hands together for two excellent presentations. 25 26 End of Presentation 27 28 Mariana de Sena Amaral da Cunha: 29 Including disabled pupils in regular physical education classes: Strategies deployed 30 by Portuguese teachers: 31 32 CHAIR: Hi ladies and gentlemen, welcome, I was going to wait for the bell to start 33 but I think we'll just start now. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 46 1 This is Mariana who is going to speak to us about including pupils with disabilities 2 in regular physical education classes, strategies deployed by Portuguese teachers, we 3 have 30 minutes for this session. Mariana will speak for 25 minutes leaving time for 4 questions. I'll stop it after 30 minutes, but she'll take questions afterwards at 5 lunch and then later as well. Thank you. 6 7 MS DA CUNHA: Good morning to all I'm a teacher and PhD student at faculty of sport 8 in University of Portugal, this presentation relates to my dissertation in vocal case 9 and social research at the institute of education under the supervision of Professor 10 Paul Dowling. 11 12 As we know disability sport was introduced by the neurosurgeon Sir Ludwig Guttmann 13 after World War II, as a means of physical and psychological rehab. Soon the 14 benefits of competition and organised sports for people with disabilities were widely 15 recognised and expanded. 16 17 From the grass-roots to the elite level such as paralympic games. Further, the 18 development of mainstream disability sport and the emergence of social and 19 educational policies, set the ground to inclusion of pupils with disabilities in 20 mainstream physical education classes. This is a key issue in disability sport which 21 is, has been increasingly addressed over the last ten years, both in literature and 22 practice. 23 24 In Portugal, inclusion started to assume a considerable role at late 80s and 25 beginning of the 90s, today it is one of the most speculated issues, especially due 26 to the recent event of re-enacting the inclusion policies, which led to considerable 27 changes in both conceptual and practical levels. 28 29 As a consequence a significant shift regarding students, educational placements had 30 been occurring from specialist schools to official schools and general education 31 classes. 32 33 The study aims to identify and characterise the teaching inclusive practices employed 34 by Portuguese general physical education teachers, as well as to develop analytical Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 47 1 framework, grounded on the practitioner's local practices. 2 3 The research approach employed was exploratory, drawn upon general personal accounts 4 underpinned by some of the grounded theory metalogical approach ingredients. 5 6 Six Portuguese GPE teachers, three male and three female, were purposely and 7 theoretically select to participate in the study. The research setting related to a 8 middle public school located at the suburbs of Porto City, which includes pupils with 9 a varied type of disabilities and in most cases with multiple disabilities attending 10 the educational services. 11 12 Semi structured interviews were conduct to capture the GPE teachers personal accounts 13 on inclusive practices. An indicative thematic comparative approach, based upon 14 Glennon Strauss, and Strauss and Corbin's cycling coding process was employed to 15 categorise data and draw conclusions on the type of strategies employed by the 16 selected teachers to include students with disabilities in their regular or general 17 classes. 18 19 Two overarching themes emerged out of data. Access and access to what? The core 20 theme "Access" includes two themes of action strategies, strategies of exclusion, 21 strategies of differentiation and strategies of support, whereas the shift theme 22 "access to what?" Covered the subcategories of common curriculum, differentiated 23 curriculum and differentiated objectives. 24 25 No action strategies occur when access does not present a problem. Inversely 26 strategies of exclusion take place when access to General PE class is not possible. 27 Access nonetheless might be achieved through curriculum activity and/or objectives 28 modifications, that is strategies of differentiation, or through the activation of 29 physical and human resources that is strategies of support. 30 31 The pupils with disabilities might have access to the same curriculum as their peers, 32 these strategies imply no modifications in the curriculum, or to differentiated 33 curriculum where different activities or roles within that activity are designated to 34 them. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 48 1 2 Finally, differentiated objectives strategies might occur when the PE goal for the 3 students with disabilities are different from those related to their peers. 4 5 The scheme of analysis presented in the earlier slide provided the foundations to 6 discuss data in an interactive way. 7 8 Since explanations of access or access to what have been used by participants, 9 movements between the sub categories are also possible and considered. 10 11 For example, no action strategies chiefly occur when the common curriculum is 12 followed, there is no measured adaptations to the PE class activities made. On the 13 other hand, differentiations in the curriculum might explain strategies of exclusion, 14 example attending individual lessons. Strategies of differentiation, example 15 applying games modifications such as rules, equipment or roles. Or strategies of 16 support, example having the assistance of another teacher in class. 17 18 Findings would be centred on the type of disabilities the teachers contact with 19 during their career, the teaching settings where these encounters occurred as well as 20 the type of strategies used to include the pupils with disabilities in their general 21 classes, in terms of access and access to what. Structured in tables and 22 occasionally followed by short statements of the teachers narratives for you to get 23 an overview into their inclusive experiences and practices. 24 25 During his 22 years of experience Mr Lord contacted with pupils with intellectual 26 disabilities, motor limitations, Down Syndrome, hearing difficulties, serious illness 27 and motor complications as well. In two sets of context such as general PE classes 28 and individualised sessions, both in public schools. Chiefly he employed strategies 29 of support, example searching for specific knowledge together with parent and doctors 30 and teacher assistance in his class. He also used strategies of exclude, example, 31 individualised lessons with students with disabilities, resulting in a differentiated 32 curriculum and distinct objectives. 33 34 Nonetheless he also reported a no action strategy following the common curriculum Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 49 1 employing just small rule adaptation, peer collaboration and disability awareness 2 procedures. 3 4 As an example Mr Lord had worked with a pupil with a serious illness which affected 5 her motor ability. Nonetheless she was always integrated in the class and doing all 6 exercises and activities of the lesson with her peers without disabilities as he 7 said. This statement suggests the implement of no action strategies, in terms of 8 access, following the common curriculum with regards to the access to what. 9 10 Nevertheless, no action strategies might sometimes lead to measures of exclusion, as 11 the following statement regarding a case of, including a pupil with severe 12 intellectual and motor limation in common activity reveals. 13 14 Last year Mr Lord and a teacher assistant in class were able to work with her. This 15 year without the collaboration of my colleague, I am unable to work with her. She 16 often excludes herself from the proposed activities. 17 18 During his 29 years of experience Mr Boris' contact with pupils with autistic 19 behaviours, hearing impairment or disabilities, intellectual disabilities and Down 20 Syndrome. In his GPE classes and school sport club in public and private schools, 21 using mainly strategies of support, for instance internet research and contact with 22 more experienced teachers, as well as strategies of differentiation, example 23 curriculum equipment and instructional adaptations, as well as individualised work 24 with pupils with disabilities. 25 26 No action strategies, such as focused attention on pupils with disability and 27 strategies of exclusion, such as individualised sessions, were also reported. 28 29 During his 22 years of experience Mr Ricardo contacted with a variety of pupils with 30 disabilities, either in General PE settings in public school or in training context 31 in private educational institution. He often attempt to promote no action strategies 32 based on the common curriculum through small adaptations into the class and 33 activities rules, learning progressions and focusing attention. Strategies of 34 support were registered whenever he had the collaboration of a colleague specialised Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 50 1 in physical education and special education in his general PE class. 2 3 Strategies of differentiation in curriculum and objectives were also applied using 4 small adaptations or rules modifications and assigning specific tasks to the people 5 with disabilities for instance being responsible for the class equipment and 6 enrolling in referee performances. 7 8 As an example Mr Ricardo teaches two Down Syndrome pupils and a student with a mild 9 cognitive and motor disability in his Judo training lessons and felt the need to 10 apply small adaptations into the training activities. 11 12 Mrs Maria taught just for 13 years and had already contact with a variety of pupils 13 with disabilities, performing distinct roles, either as a teacher and a teacher 14 assistant in PE classes, only in public schools. She also employed these types of 15 strategies to include in her class to enhance motor ability of her students, 16 specifically Mrs Maria reported a case of a blind student with whom she developed 17 individualised sessions separated from her class and her peers. But sporadically 18 this student was also included in general PE class with her peers without 19 disabilities through the introduction of a disability sport, Goalball. 20 21 This was a response to a reverse strategy where the curriculum and objectives of the 22 pupils without disabilities are altered in order to embrace their blind or visually 23 disabled classmate in the main general PE class. 24 25 Mrs Joana taught for over 18 years and I would highlight the fact that beyond the 26 general PE classes she was also responsible for the adapted sport club in school 27 where she gave extra support to a Down Syndrome student to enhance his general and 28 specific motor skills. 29 30 Furthermore, as Mrs Maria she often organised her general PE class in small groups 31 according to the students level of ability and to include further the pupils with 32 disabilities in her class. 33 34 As for Mrs Eduarda, during her 20 years of experience she contacted with pupils with Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 51 1 Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy, in the context of general PE classes. 2 3 But she, the place where she most contacted with pupils with disabilities or 4 individuals with disabilities and gained experience was in her work as a caretaker in 5 special institutions. 6 7 As Mrs Maria and Mrs Joana she also invested in small groups and on establishment of 8 routines in her PE class to promote strategies of no action and differentiation in 9 the curriculum and objectives, among other strategies. 10 11 For instance, with respect to a wheelchair pupil, strategies of differentiation were 12 the most employed. He would represent different roles within the activities and work 13 for distinct objectives compared with his peers. For instance, he would perform the 14 goalkeeper role or assume the referee task. 15 16 As main conclusions most of the participants taught for over 20 years and had 17 experience in teaching pupils with disabilities. One female teacher also had 18 experience in special institutions as a carer. 19 20 The scheme of analysis developed in this research study is grounded in the 21 practitioners local practices and meet the general inclusive procedures identified 22 within the literature, specifically Lieberman Displacement Model and Ken Black's 23 Inclusion Spectrum Sport Activity Model centred on the sport activities in PE classes 24 or sport activities in other contexts. 25 26 The conceived analytical model access and access to what, provided a comprehensive 27 understanding on how pupils with disabilities are being included in Portuguese 28 regular physical education settings, since it describes how the pupils with 29 disabilities are being included in mainstream Portuguese general PE classes, 30 characterises how teachers respond to inclusion in terms of access and access to what 31 domains, and offers practical solutions that can be applied in similar contexts by 32 the teachers in their general classes and hopefully to change and improve their 33 practices. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 52 1 Thank you very much for your attention. Obrigado, I am available for questions now. 2 3 CHAIR: Any questions or comments? 4 5 Q. Speaker thank you for the presentation, and I had a question, I came in late so maybe 6 I missed it, but what is the training that the general PE teachers have? 7 MS DA CUNHA: All of the set of teachers had training in their initial academic 8 training, one of the teachers also undertook a master degree on Physical Adapted 9 Physical Activity, and one of the female teachers also had experience as a caretaker 10 in an institution for, I think, visual impairment, visual disability and intellectual 11 disabilities too, and that's it. 12 13 CHAIR: Any other comments or questions? 14 15 Q. I'm just curious to know about a difference maybe that you might find with younger 16 teachers or teachers with less experience, do you think their practices might vary 17 considerably with your findings? 18 MS DA CUNHA: I didn't get into that variable. Although we can -- in our data 19 conclusions we can infer about the type, the differences about type of disabilities 20 the teachers have in classes as well as their training, but actually that variable I 21 didn't -- because all of them has over 20 years of experience in teaching, and 22 including pupils with disabilities in their classes so I didn't go into that 23 variable, unfortunately, it wasn't significant. 24 25 Q. Good morning Mariana thank you very much for your presentation I am not going to make 26 a question, just a comment based on the previous question, just to clarify that in 27 Portugal there is undergraduate level we have in 90% of the sports sciences faculties 28 we have at least two compulsory Adapted Physical Activity subjects, so there is a 29 background for all PE teachers. 30 31 Then that could be extended if there are, if they have optional subjects on the area, 32 but at least two subjects will be compulsory for undergraduates. Thank you. 33 34 CHAIR: Okay, if there are no more questions or comments we'll bring this session to Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 53 1 a close. Thank you very much for your attention. And I hope you will enjoy your 2 lunch. 3 4 End of Presentation 5 6 7 Maria Campos: Attitudes of Portuguese physical educators towards inclusion of 8 students with disabilities in elementary schools: 9 10 CHAIR: Good afternoon, people realise it's unusually sunshiney outside and went out 11 to enjoy the sun, but those who are here, thank you for coming. 12 13 I'm happy to present my friend and colleague from Portugal, Maria Campos, she'll 14 present a wonderful study on attitudes of Portuguese physical educators towards 15 inclusion of students with disabilities in elementary schools. This year she is 16 going to graduate PhD programme, so she'll tell us her research. 17 18 MS CAMPOS: Hello I'm from the faculty of sports science and physical education of 19 the University of Coimbra, my current are interests are in perceptions of school 20 community towards inclusion and this presentation talks about attitudes of Portuguese 21 physical educators towards inclusion of students with disability in elementary 22 schools. 23 24 And why are we focusing our interest in this air gentleman? The research on 25 teacher's attitudes towards inclusion of pupils with disabilities ... physical 26 education is not remain indifferent to this movement as part of the curriculum 27 offered by schools. 28 29 As we know in the literature there are some research regarding teacher's attitudes 30 and beliefs towards inclusion in physical education, and considering the importance 31 of teacher's role as an agent of change, it is crucial to study attitudes regarding 32 inclusion of student with disability and physical education. 33 34 Studies concerning attitudes haven't been carried out in Portugal and they can Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 54 1 provide an important contribution to the development of future interventions in 2 development in our country. 3 4 So this exploratory study aims to report physical educators attitudes towards 5 inclusion of children with disability in elementary schools as well as to assess 6 teacher related variables such as gender, experience in teaching students with 7 disabilities, quality of experience, perceived competence and training in adapted 8 physical education. 9 10 The study involved 159 PE teachers of elementary Portuguese schools, 89 male and 70 11 females with ages between 22 and 46 years old, and we used the survey of physical 12 educator's attitudes towards teaching individuals with disabilities of Terry Rizzo. 13 14 Regarding the variables, we study gender, course work in adapted physical education, 15 experience in teaching students with disabilities, perceived competence and quality 16 of experience. And our dependent variables were attitudes towards disability, 17 physical disability, intellectual disability, hearing impairment and visual 18 impairment. 19 20 So to measure the internal consistency of this test we assessed the Cronbach alpha 21 and most values are equal to 0.19 which re presents excellence internal consist 22 tense. These values were consistent also with values reported in other studies using 23 this survey follow come, meek and Rizzo used this using different sub scales, 24 behavioural disorders, mild intellectual disabilities and learning disabilities. 25 26 This survey measures three different factors, the first is outcomes of teaching 27 students with disabilities in regular classes with six items, the second one is 28 effects on student learnings with four items, and the third one is the need for more 29 academic preparation to teach students with disabilities. 30 31 Our results show that Portuguese PE teachers are concerned about themselves, about 32 the student learning and the need for more training to teach children with 33 disabilities. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 55 1 About disability conditions, we think it's important to ascertain which of the 2 disabilities are perceived as more difficult to include in physical education 3 classes. And our results show that elementary physical education teachers have more 4 positive perceptions of students with hearing disorders, intellectual disabilities 5 and physical disabilities, showing that the last positive attitude is towards 6 including children with blindness. 7 8 These outcomes were also revealed in some interviews we made in focus groups, where 9 teachers point out their concerns in preparing a physical education class for blind 10 students. They said they don't feel confident enough in preparing and adapting 11 exercises for students with visual impairment compared with other disabilities. 12 13 We can see there are significant differences for gender, for all dependent variables 14 and females had more positive attitudes scores compared to males for all dependent 15 variables. Our study confirms the results that other studies did with female 16 teachers having higher attitudes towards inclusion. 17 18 Training in adapted physical education also revealed significant outcomes for almost 19 all variables as teachers with course work had significantly higher attitude values. 20 We can also say that the lack of preparation can negatively affect teacher's 21 confidence, self-confidence and attitudes in working with students with disabilities. 22 23 In respect of teaching experience with students with disabilities, we can also find 24 significant differences and teachers are experience reveals higher levels of 25 perceived competence and perceived quality of experience and our results go in 26 accordance with other studies. 27 28 The results also show that higher levels of perceived quality of experience leads to 29 higher levels of perceived competence and attitudes. We have to notice that it's not 30 only important to have experience but that experience has to be perceived as 31 positive, otherwise it will decrease the level of competence. 32 33 It is also clear that the greater their perception of competence the more comfortable 34 teachers feel about dealing with students with disabilities in physical education Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 56 1 classes, as shown as well in other studies. 2 3 To finish our results, we did some correlations and we saw that perceived competence 4 is strongly related to favourable attitudes about working with children with 5 disabilities across all disability conditions and is often found to be the best 6 predictor of higher attitudes like Rizzo and Wright said it, the same happened in our 7 study. 8 9 Also other variables related with attitudes is course work and quality of experience. 10 11 In spite of elementary physical education teacher overall express a positive attitude 12 towards teaching students with disabilities in physical education classes, results 13 disclose the existence of significant differences for gender, course work and 14 training in adapted physical education, quality of experience and perceived 15 competence. 16 17 Another highlight is that perceived competence is the best predictor of higher 18 attitudes towards inclusion as well as quality of experience and course work in 19 adapted physical education. 20 21 We can conclude that it is essential to implement strategies, particularly at 22 specific training and course work in adapted physical education, so that physical 23 education teachers have greater knowledge regarding teaching students with 24 disabilities and perceive themselves as competent, which leads to more favourable 25 attitudes towards teaching students with disability, making inclusion a reality in 26 our country. 27 28 So our Portuguese teachers ready to receive pupils with disability? We think they 29 are, especially if they have training in adapted physical education and positive 30 teacher experience which leads to perceived higher levels of perceived competence and 31 higher attitudes. 32 33 Our possible outcomes or practical implications could be at school level, we think 34 it's very important to introduce paralympic sports and other adapted activities in Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 57 1 physical education curriculum as well as in physical education school books. In 2 addition to implement awareness programmes such as paralympic school days, that's one 3 of the work we are doing now in some Portuguese schools. 4 5 Attention must also be made in teacher training along their professional career and 6 one of the most important implications of this study concerns two institutions 7 responsible for preparing PE teachers and although the great majority provide course 8 work in special education needs, Portuguese universities should restructure their 9 programmes to include information and experience about disabilities throughout the 10 curriculum. 11 12 Thank you for your attention. If you have any questions? 13 14 Q. How would the Portuguese people perceive blind and visually impaired in general? 15 MS CAMPOS: We are now doing focus group interviews to Portuguese teachers and 16 actually for them it is the most disability condition to include in physical 17 education classes. 18 19 Now in Portugal all students with disabilities are included in schools, but 20 unfortunately some of the PE teachers don't work in the same group with children 21 without disabilities, and that's why we are trying to do this kind of study in 22 Portugal, because we have some concerns about parents of children with disability, 23 they come to us and say my child doesn't do physical education at school, so we are 24 trying to go to schools to prepare physical education teachers so they can do the 25 same exercises for people, for children with and without disabilities at the same 26 time. 27 28 Q. Portuguese FA, the football association, would they have any influence on encouraging 29 blind and visually impaired into soccer? 30 MS CAMPOS: We don't have many teams of blind athletes, especially in Portugal. 31 32 Q. I have a question, what is the average of students with disabilities in elementary 33 schools, since you have full inclusion now, so what is the average number of students 34 with disability in regular school and general education class? Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 58 1 MS CAMPOS: Each class with 20 students, probably has one or two with a disability 2 condition. Either autism, visually impaired. 3 4 Q. Is that for APA teachers? 5 MS CAMPOS: No in Portugal we don't have APA teacher, sometimes when a child has a 6 mild intellectual disabilities or autism, they can have some assistance, it's not a 7 teacher, it's a school staff member, but sometimes for the physical education class 8 but we don't have that the APA. 9 10 One of the work we have in the university is go to some regular schools and our 11 undergrad students and masters students to go to physical education classes to help 12 physical educators taking classes for the children at that level. 13 14 CHAIR: Some more questions? 15 16 Q. Is that -- do you decide which school are having support from you? Or do you have 17 some system for helping schools? 18 MS CAMPOS: We are trying to go to schools where more students with disabilities, 19 because we have now, since last year Portuguese schools have reference schools for 20 each disabilities and there are schools near our university with lots of students 21 with intellectual disabilities and autism and we will go there because some of the 22 teachers ask us for help and we are available to go to any school if they want to. 23 24 Q. But those children with intellectual disabilities and autism as you say, they are 25 already included? 26 MS CAMPOS: They are included in physical education class, they don't have special 27 physical education classes. 28 29 Q. But are they in special classes in other subjects? 30 MS CAMPOS: Some subjects they don't go but physical education and music, all of them 31 have that kind of subject of the 32 33 Q. What about those teachers who think that they don't have to teach everyone? 34 MS CAMPOS: That's our big problem. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 59 1 2 Q. So do you have any ideas? 3 MS CAMPOS: That's why I start to go to the schools near my university to talk with 4 teachers and do some exercises for myself with all the class for them to see it's not 5 difficult to include a student in a wheelchair or an intellectual disability child in 6 physical education, so we are trying to go to schools and do some exercises and adapt 7 exercises for all physical educators in our schools. In some schools. 8 9 Q. Could you tell me a little about the course work that you undertake at your 10 university with the pre-service teachers in relation to adapting PE? 11 MS CAMPOS: In our university we have two compulsory subjects about adapted physical 12 education and university students can also choose another two subjects, so they can 13 have four subjects in adapted physical education in our university. 14 15 And we do some other course work for teachers for already teachers of physical 16 education that can go to our university and we give some strategies to implement and 17 have practical classes, not only with our students in the university but also with 18 teachers that want some preparation, more course work and training in the physical 19 education. 20 21 Q. Do they get hands on experience with children in their courses on campus in the 22 university? 23 MS CAMPOS: Yes, we do some activities with our students, we put some blind folds or 24 use some wheelchairs or invite students with disabilities from some institutions to 25 go to our faculty and do exercises with them and other activities. 26 27 Q. Is that typical of provision in Portugal? Or is your university... 28 MS CAMPOS: That's what we do, some universities I know they don't do activities on 29 and off campus, just theoretical work but in our university we try to do both because 30 we think it's important and we can see in the results that it's very important to 31 future teachers to have work already with children with disabilities. 32 33 CHAIR: Any more questions or comments? Thank you Maria for your presentation it was 34 really interesting and thank you all for your questions. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 60 1 2 End of Presentation 3 4 Miguel Olio: Sailing with the deaf/blind. 5 6 CHAIR: Hello, welcome to our second session for the afternoon, and then I think -- I 7 don't know what's after this, then a break! 8 9 But our second presenter Miguel Olio, from (inaudible) school for students with 10 multiple disabilities from Brazil, he will be presenting -- his title is Sailing with 11 the Deaf/Blind, Miguel does not have any research interest, but more the areas that 12 he really enjoys pursuing and working in, so that's the title that say it is all, so 13 welcome Miguel and you're off and running. 14 15 MR OLIO: Thank you, good afternoon. This is more a conversation about the programme 16 we try to do with deaf and blind people. 17 18 I'm sorry but my English is not so good, but if necessary, if you have a question, 19 please I'll give an answer. 20 SPEAKER: You're doing great, don't worry! 21 MR OLIO: Thank you I'm trying! 22 23 I started thinking about sports and disabilities when I started the course with 24 Shirley and Voulet, it's a course specialised in working with people who are deaf and 25 blind and multiple disability. But nothing with physical education. 26 27 And in my college, in my high school -- sorry the college, I don't work with adapted 28 physical education, it only started after that. 29 30 When I started the course, the specialised course I started work with Down Syndrome, 31 with physical problems and work with blind people, but nothing with deaf and blind. 32 33 And we started this course, to have work to do and work with Usher Syndrome. And 34 Usher Syndrome acquired -- I never saw this syndrome before, but okay, that's fine. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 61 1 2 After this work I was thinking okay, because I'm a sailor, I have a sailing school, I 3 was thinking okay, I came to do something in nature, a physical activity or a sport, 4 maybe it's possible to do this sport, something for wellness and something that's 5 possible to do alone or in a team, this is the whole idea. 6 7 So I thought okay, sailing is something that's possible to do with these whole 8 things. You can do it alone or in a team, a group. You need to do this in nature. 9 10 Okay, sailing is a good idea, nature is not necessary in the sea, because we do this 11 in a lake, not a natural lake but in a lake in the middle of the city in Sao Paulo. 12 13 I have the boats, so it's easy to do. The place we have some yacht clubs in Sao 14 Paulo the name of the lake is Represa de Guarapiranga! 15 16 This is a lake in the middle of the city, yes it's possible to sail in Sao Paulo in a 17 big city, it's fine, it's possible to do this. And this is an amazing view -- like 18 the photo, this one -- this day we don't have wind in the morning, but in the 19 afternoon we have a good wind like ten knots, that's perfect for sailing. 20 21 The project started with, we did two tests before, the first is with a woman, with a 22 deaf/blind acquired, and then after was a girl who was 16 years old deaf and blind 23 congenital, it was different, to explain the things. 24 25 But I need to explain the same things, I don't need to change them -- I don't need to 26 adapt anything, I need to explain for the different ways, but it's the same, when I 27 need to explain to a "Normal" person. I need to explain what happens and why -- what 28 happens with this thing ... 29 30 Communication with these women, I don't need to use sign language. With her it was 31 unnecessary, just to speak loud, only this. We used some signal, but not a proper 32 sign language. So only some signals to explain some details, no more than this. 33 34 But now I prefer to use an intervener to help if necessary and to film too. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 62 1 2 We speak loud, just higher and closer to the ear. 3 4 But to do this, to sail with the deaf and blind people I organised some steps, in 5 three steps to be honest. The first step is show the boat, show the space, the whole 6 space and show the small part, the cockpit is the space you use to push and pull the 7 lines, the sheet, use the foil and explain with more detail this space, this area. 8 9 Then show when I use the sheet, the first photo I don't know if it's possible to see, 10 but this guy is deaf and blind, and with him is an intervener to show him the things, 11 the sail, what is the sail, the whole thing, the whole part of the boat. 12 13 And after this he was sailing, proper sailing, using the sheet, when you need to push 14 or when you need to pull the line. 15 16 The second step is sailing, proper sailing. How I use the foil because it is not 17 like a steering wheel in the car, it is not the same, because the foil you put the 18 right side and the boat goes to the left side and you need to explain this. 19 20 Okay explain this part! Explain the wind, where is the wind coming from? That's 21 necessary, it doesn't matter but it's necessary to know that. 22 23 The boat movements, I think the boat movement is, the second step is the most 24 important part because a boat's speed is the whole time the boat is flat, it doesn't 25 move a lot, only this way the front up and down, no more than this. When you are in 26 a cruise ship it's the same, you never see the boat movement a lot, it is always the 27 front side is up and down, this is the huge movement, but sailing is this movement, 28 but the worst part is when the boat turns on one side, but this is the normal part. 29 30 When the boat is in this position, okay the boat is sailing, proper sailing. Yes 31 when you think in a competition the boat needs to be flat, but when you are sailing, 32 only sailing when the boat is in this position the boat is sailing and I need to 33 explain these differences, because in a moment when I am talking to her and I have a 34 question, when the boat is stopped or the boat is sailing. The moment the boat is Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 63 1 totally stopped and flat, she told me the boat was sailing, and I was thinking, the 2 boat is sailing? But it's stopped. Totally flat, I see we don't have any movement. 3 4 When the boat starts sailing, start movement and the boat started tilt and the woman 5 said "Okay what happened?" nothing happened, this is normal. The boat now is 6 starting to sail. Okay, this is the boat sailing? Okay that's fine. I understand 7 now. 8 9 And I'm thinking, this is the point I need to explain, it's more difficult. And the 10 other part is the manoeuvre, the boat -- we can do the two maneuvers, the jib and the 11 tack, it's more specific but when you do the movement the jibing is the picture when 12 the wind, the boat is in the draft of the wind and the tack is when you approach the 13 wind, when you cross the wind. 14 15 And I'm thinking the other thing that is really important to explain is the 16 orientation because inside the boat you don't have signs. You can't touch anything, 17 you only touch the water and the water don't give us signs. But you have a point 18 like nature points, you have an island, you have a street, you have a club and I need 19 to explain all the time, every time okay in front of you, you have an island, on your 20 right side you have a club and we start sailing, continue sailing. Okay in front of 21 you now you have another island but this island is in front of the other island. 22 Okay on your left side you have a street, avenue, a big avenue -- in this point when 23 you are explaining this part you give a location and when you need to come back to 24 the club you need to explain this whole part again. Okay we come back, but now on 25 your right side you have the avenue, no more on the left side. 26 27 The third step is evaluation. If the person really understands what happened? If 28 the person understands when you need to come back to the club, if the way is right? 29 I'm thinking the most important thing is what happened in the boat, if the movement 30 is clear. 31 32 Some results we continued this programme and we have in 2011 the first nautic Meeting 33 with deaf and blind leaders in a world deaf and blind conference in Brazil, Sao 34 Paulo, and we believe it's possible you can do a championship, a national Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 64 1 championship and international championship, yes it's possible. We believe in that. 2 3 This is the group, these guys, everybody is deaf and blind, some more congenital, 4 others acquired, but everybody of these guys are deaf and blind. And thank you 5 Shirley and Vula and Ahimsa too. 6 7 CHAIR: Does anybody have any questions for Miguel and what he is doing on the 8 project? 9 10 Q. How did you recruit all the people who are deaf/blind? How did they find out the 11 participants, how did they find out about your programme? 12 MR OLIO: I work in Ahimsa, in a special school, working with deaf and blind and 13 multiple acquired and then we have another group with adults or with deaf and blind 14 students, in Ahimsa in the school and it's only for children and teenagers. In 15 Brazil there is a group for deaf and blind adults and we use this group to make the 16 group. 17 18 Q. Is there only one school in Brazil for deaf/blind? How many schools in Brazil for 19 deaf/blind? 20 MR OLIO: In Sao Paulo we only have one school for deaf and blind. 21 22 We have schools in Brazil in all 27 states, specifically only for deaf blind people, 23 there are six in Brazil and the other states the deaf/blind are included in some kind 24 of setting. And we have representatives that have learned how to deal with 25 deaf/blind people, we have studied and trained them in the 27 states of Brazil. 26 27 Q. Do you plan to start more programmes so more kids can get the benefit from sailing or 28 deaf blind, like start programmes in Brazil and other places? 29 MR OLIO: This is our idea, but we first started to find problems with 30 transportation, we have a problem, Sao Paulo is a big city and the youth club from 31 the houses is far, we have this problem. Yes it's possible to do this, yes I really 32 would like to do this, but first we need to resolve this problem but yes we want to 33 and I think we're looking at it that's it's possible. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 65 1 We're looking for someone to sponsor at least the transport so they can go to the 2 beautiful place you saw there. 3 4 Yes it's possible. Yes it's something to think about. 5 6 Q. Will you be presenting this next week at the national Brazilian conference? 7 MR OLIO: No. I tried to talk with the organisation but I don't have the time for 8 the deadline. When I knew, it was past the deadline. 9 10 CHAIR: Any other questions? 11 12 SPEAKER: We're going to talk to you later! 13 14 CHAIR: I noticed a pattern with those two, they keep cornering everybody after the 15 speech! 16 17 We'll thank Miguel very much for his time and his presentation, I look forward to 18 hearing more about sailing for the deaf/blind. We are a little ahead, we have a 19 coffee break at 2.35 for 15 minutes, maybe a little longer. Then we have the plenary 20 session number 2 with Dr David Carless in Mangerton D, thank you for your time. 21 22 End of Presentation 23 24 Plenary session: Dr David Carless: 25 Recovery stories, narrative research in physical activity and mental health. 26 27 MR O'FLYNN: Good afternoon everyone I think we'll get started. 28 29 Welcome back everyone I hope you enjoyed your lunch and that you are enjoying all the 30 presentations and parallel sessions at this European congress. 31 32 Just before we get into the afternoon work a couple of brief things, you will all 33 have got a conference bag, yes? Okay, in that bag amongst other things you will find 34 this, it's an invitation to tonight's cultural activity, the heal to surf I believe Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 66 1 is full at this stage but there are some places left in the GAA, our national games, 2 in their cultural and sporting evening, which will be well worthwhile, it's both an 3 exhibition of Gaelic football and hurling and then some traditional music and dance, 4 the time is 6.30 to 8.30, a bus will leave from the front of reception of the hotel. 5 6 If you want to go, this invitation there is a place at the bottom for your name and 7 your country, please fill it in and drop it to Bernie at the GAA desk, you'll also go 8 into a raffle for a couple of nice gift bags which are worthwhile. 9 10 Also inside your conference bag should be a memory stick, everybody got that? If you 11 haven't blame Tomas. The memory key, on it are all the abstracts and other useful 12 information on the CARA Centre, EIPET and APA VET, have a look at it on your own 13 time. 14 15 Just to tell you all our presentations from the presenters who have given us 16 permission will be on our website after the conference, the website is EUCAPA2012.EU. 17 18 Time now for our second keynote lecture, our next presenter has been a primary 19 schoolteacher, outdoor activity instructor, educational consultant, academic and 20 author. Now with Leeds Metropolitan university, Dr David Carless is best known for 21 his multidisciplinary research into how mental health, psychological well-being and 22 identity are developed, challenged and or recovered through physical activity or 23 sport. 24 25 Here to share some of his research on narrative research into physical activity and 26 mental health, please welcome Dr David Carless. 27 28 DR CARLESS: Good afternoon, just to check everyone can hear me okay before I begin? 29 30 I'd like to start with a story; "I can remember my primary school vividly, you were 31 allow to work at your own pace and I loved it, there was no traditional hockey or 32 cricket, we just played games, it was fun.' 33 34 'I started ballet classes when I was three and tap and I also went swimming, Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 67 1 apparently at swimming I was a bit of a demon, my swimming teacher was lovely but did 2 threaten to throw you in at the deep end if you didn't behave!' 3 4 'Having started ballet at three I took to tap dancing like a duck to water, but 5 apparently had the odd tantrum there as well. I think most of my self-expression, 6 extremes of mood which have become more obvious, now I'm bipolar, were apparent when 7 I was tiny as well. By the time I was 11 I was dancing every day, one day off on 8 Sunday.' 9 10 'I went to auditions at the Royal Ballet School, fortunately I didn't get in, short 11 dumpy ballerinas with big boobs don't earn much money, but I carried on at that level 12 and intensity until I went to secondary school. That was a shock to the system, 13 boarding school at 11, fantastic and horrific in equal quantities. It teaches you 14 self reliance, takes away any sense of normal relationships, we had games teachers 15 who were bullies, they would only take the one who really shone, only work with 16 them.' 17 18 'I loved hockey probably just because I didn't get shouted at. When I was in the 19 sixth form I fell, shattered my left knee, left school. >From the point of view of 20 work, the degree was great, but having time for anything else became more and more 21 difficult, couldn't dance, damaged knee, there was no swimming pool, so the two 22 things I really enjoyed and was good at, I was grounded.' 23 24 'The sport was also very competitive, the sort of atmosphere you weren't encouraged 25 unless you were good enough to play at one of the best teams, so I didn't do any 26 formal exercise, I'd go in the sports hall only to take exams. When I went home I 27 did lots of adventure stuff, canoeing, climbing, caving, loved it. No competition, 28 but you were encourage to check up on the person in front or behind. I loved that. 29 There was a big group of us, all different ages and we achieved things.' 30 31 'I first got ill when I was 16, depression was the problem. Everyone thought wow, 32 there is a girl whose going places, yet actually I was profoundly depressed. I used 33 to spend hours crying, it wasn't diagnosed, nothing really happened, it did settle 34 when I first went to university, but flared up in fourth year as I was in a much Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 68 1 bigger environment, much less secure.' 2 3 'I start to become much more brittle and got very depressed very quickly, eventually 4 I was hospitalised. I was aware that something wasn't quite right and went to 5 student health, from then it gets a bit blurry, I had a few bad episodes, which 6 required hospitalisation, that was horrendous, it was one of those old style 7 hospitals, you know that has it's own farm, it's own train line.' 8 9 'It's the only time in my life I have ever been offered hard drugs. The first two 10 days I was in there I didn't eat. Nobody told me how to get food. When you went to 11 get something we had to register, I was number 14. They would use that number 12 instead of your name. I still dislike the number 14." 13 14 What you have just heard is part of Laura's story. You're going to hear more from 15 Laura late they are afternoon, but I'd just like to pause now and provide a little 16 context to what I'd like to talk with you about this afternoon. 17 18 The first thing is thanking my good friend and colleague Kitrina Douglas, academic 19 research is nearly always a collaboration and partnership, nearly always we present 20 in a solitary manner, so this is Kitrina's work as much as mine, everything I have to 21 say today has been developed in close collaboration with her and I'd like to 22 acknowledge that. 23 24 In terms of the context of mental health, many of us are probably aware of the 25 figures by now, World Health Organisation suggests that 27% of the European Union 26 population experience some sort of mental disorder in the past year, around about a 27 quarter. 28 29 They estimate 83 million people across Europe are affected and they suggest mental 30 disorders rank as the first cause of years lived with a disability, accounting for 31 nearly 40%. 32 33 The clear thing is that mental health problems seem to be widespread in Europe, and 34 probably increasing too. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 69 1 2 In terms of what mental health is I like these definitions, not particularly new, the 3 first is from the US, the Surgeon General's report; "A state of successful 4 performance of mental function, resulting in productive activities, fulfilling 5 relationships with other people and the ability to adapt and change and cope with 6 adversity." 7 8 From the UK. "Mental health has been defined as emotion and spiritual resilience, 9 which enables us to survive life and avoid pain and sadness." 10 11 When -- what I think I like about the two definitions is that I think for me at least 12 they tend to resist a tendency that we have had in our communities to other people 13 who have mental health problems. 14 15 So they don't focus on diagnosis or difference, they don't focus on problems 16 particularly, instead mental health is conceptualised as something that is perhaps an 17 exaggeration of processes that affect us all, I think that's important. 18 19 Again the Department of Health in the UK suggests that mental health is influenced by 20 diverse factors, social, cultural, biographical, historical, economic, not just 21 chemistry, not just genetic predisposition, so there are studies that suggest that 22 genetics shape mental health in some way or another, particularly schizophrenia, 23 there is a lot of research looking at whether there is a genetic pre-disposition 24 towards it and some studies suggest that there is, but it's not a direct relationship 25 and some researchers, Peter Chadwick particularly, has shown has the very genetic 26 profile that predisposes to schizophrenia also brings positive quality such as 27 creativity, empathy, insight. 28 29 So very much a human condition that is about positives, as well as negatives. 30 31 Some sort of disquiet quite widely building over the past few decades, very well 32 articulated by Richard Bentall, a practising psychologist in his book Doctoring the 33 Mind, Why Psychiatric Treatments Fail, so he articulated a disquiet with what has 34 become a reliance on medication, pharmacological intervention for treating or Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 70 1 intervening with mental health. 2 3 He suggested that psychiatry, the medical nature, has led to ignoring psychological 4 factors of people's well-being and recovery. 5 6 This is a particularly strong perspective and I'm sure familiar to many of you 7 working in the Adapt area when it comes to users, survivors of mental health, people 8 who experienced it, there instead is more of a recovery focus that has a lot of 9 parallels with the disability movement over recent decades. 10 11 For example, we have learned that recovery from serious mental illness does not 12 require remission of symptoms or other deficits. Rather recovery involves 13 incorporation of one's illness within a context of a sense of hopefulness about one's 14 future particularly about one's ability to rebuild a positive sense of self and 15 social identity. 16 17 One survivor, Patricia Deegan was hospitalised with schizophrenia as a young woman, 18 went on to gain a doctorate in clinical psychology and wrote powerfully about it; 19 mental illness, she suggests because many of us have experienced our lives and dreams 20 shattering in the wake of mental illness once the essential challenges to face us is 21 to ask who can I become and why should I say yes to life? 22 23 This perspective 1996 that was published, that's very much underlying Kitrina and my 24 work, we want to think along these lines to understand the potential of physical 25 activity and sport with people with mental health difficulties, why should I say yes 26 to life? 27 28 More explicitly the recovery, the survivor movement influenced our methods, Julie 29 Repper and Rachel Perkins, both survivors, argued we now need to move beyond symptoms 30 and deficits they suggest we start in a different place with the voice of first hand 31 experience, we need to begin by listening to people with mental health problems and 32 gain insight into the possibilities of life with mental health problems. 33 34 So that's the foundations, that's been leading us in a certain direction of research, Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 71 1 how can we conduct research so we can listen, so that we can gain insight into other 2 people's experience? 3 4 The answer for us is not the only way, but it's the way that's been useful in our 5 experience is narrative research, so qualitative research, I'm describing it as a 6 variety really of narrative methods, so the focus has been on people with severe and 7 enduring mental health problems, so that's difficulties that are disabling on a 8 day-to-day basis, that's the severe bit, the endure something problems that last for 9 months at least and most likely years. 10 11 Total of -- I've got 30 plus partly because we have research participants, but also 12 do some evaluations in Bristol, Active Life Project, so we've interacted with more 13 than 30 people. Men and women, predominantly men, and the way we have interacted 14 with them to gain insights into their experience and stories is through in-depth 15 interviews, one-to-one interviews, usually repeated over time, focus groups, informal 16 interaction, a lot of that, a lot of chatting and talking over cups of tea during 17 activity sessions, after activity sessions, ethnography, field notes, documented 18 through field notes and also participation. So taking part in activity groups 19 ourselves, sometimes leading activity groups and sometimes watching people who are 20 taking part. 21 22 So it's a variety of different qualitative data, gathering methods and our focus, 23 it's taken me a while to get this clear in my own mind, is on people's stories of 24 their own experience. We want to learn from and understand the experiences of people 25 who have been there. Because they are different people, it's not me, I can never 26 know another's experience, you can never know my experience fully, we are different 27 people, so it's a problem, how do we get at that? 28 29 One way is through these sorts of narrative methods, to try and support, listen and 30 take seriously the stories people tell of what they have experienced. So not their 31 perceptions, opinions or views, it's their experiences we focus on. 32 33 Then what we are going to do today, what I'd like to do is do a little story 34 analysis, Arthur Frank, a medical sociologist talks about thinking about stories, a Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 72 1 traditional qualitative approach, taking several stories and almost take them apart, 2 look at the bits within them, the themes and strands. 3 4 We might look at what holds across different people's stories or how an individual's 5 story changes overtime, but it's an analysis that's about stepping back from the 6 story, being a little distant from it, traditional social science research really. 7 8 Also what we like to do, because it's -- Kitrina found it enlightening personally, is 9 try and do some storytelling, to preserve an individual's story, to try to 10 communicate with a sense of empathy, try to retain the emotions and meaning that a 11 phenomena holds for an individual person. That for Arthur Frank is thinking with a 12 story, not being distant from it, it's immersing ourselves in a person's story, a 13 little like hopefully we do when we watch a film, read a novel, see a play. 14 Abandoning objectivity and neutrality and being more immersed. 15 16 I think the important thing to point out with that in terms of research methods for 17 anyone that's interested is that when it comes to experience there is no single valid 18 truth. Any of our experiences of a given phenomenon, this lecture for example are 19 equally valid, we won't experience it in the same way, there may be differences and 20 some similarities but anyone's experience is valid, it's not a matter of validity, 21 it's a matter of understanding perhaps diversity and perhaps some common ground too. 22 23 So what I'd like to do now is return to Laura's story for a moment, you all remember 24 she was in hospital with her dislike of the number 14. 25 26 "Anyway, I got better, caught up, graduated on time. By then I was aware that I was 27 vulnerable, so I applied for house jobs nearer home and the first one was surgical, I 28 enjoyed it, but was never cut out to be a surgeon there was a danger that someone's 29 scar would have flowers and beads sewn into it.' 30 31 'Then I went on to do medicine that was fantastic, I was really well all through it, 32 none of this I'm doctor you're a physio or a nurse, we'd all go out together, you are 33 made feel valued for what you do but you have respect for everyone.' 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 73 1 'Then I move to a big children's hospital, this is my horror story. I think the 2 first problem was I didn't make friends. I mean I know that sounds primary 3 school-ish, but it just disintegrated from there. The environment was career 4 pediatricians, and I felt I was expected to be like that. So I actually saw a GP 5 fairly soon.' 6 7 'I know exactly when it happened because I was walking to my appointment and a random 8 bloke grabbed me and said look at this you have to see this, I saw a plane go into 9 the Twin Towers on the TV screen. That was my D-Day, that's when thing really 10 unraveled quickly, I became profoundly suicidal.' 11 12 'It's weird, I can remember everything up to that point very clearly, but from there 13 there is a big chunk, probably three or four years, just a blur of this happening or 14 that happening and a nasty blur as well.' 15 16 'Psych services can be a very cruel place. You get all sorts of labels about being 17 manipulative, having personality disorders, and actually you are just struggling with 18 a problem. You are awash with bizarre medication, you've lost any form of normality 19 in your life and any regularity your life might have. Your life is falling 20 completely to bits and they are judging you from there rather than saying this is 21 Laura and this is what happened to her.' 22 23 'I wouldn't wish it on anyone those first few years.' 24 25 'The day centre had an exercise group, a little gym, physio came and did circuits for 26 very poorly people, because she had a knowledge of sport and mental health, she 27 didn't do anything too hard, but got us into doing little bits and bobs, I went into 28 that and did gardening and pottery too. Then I joined a walking group run by a chap 29 my headmaster would say a man who walks with purpose.' 30 31 'We'd have a brisk walk, have lunch, people would chat again go back to your life.' 32 33 'When I got discharged from a supportive atmosphere to nothing, there is no middle 34 ground. For several years I bounced between GP and psychiatrist before I eventually Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 74 1 ended back with psych services, in the interim day centre had changed, they still had 2 classes but little camaraderie, it felt a bit them and us. It was we're going to 3 prescribe you art instead of why don't you come and do some art. It wasn't a huge 4 success, they aren't offering support, I just drifted.' 5 6 'That put my partner, stuck with being my carer, under a huge strain. Then we moved 7 house, that meant a different GP and day centre. The doctor suggested physical 8 activity, something I could carry on after being discharged. I had a period of no 9 activity, then two years ago I got the opportunity of going to badminton, I would 10 have struggled if I was really poorly, people think it's just a badminton session but 11 it's not. There is a hell of a lot more to deal with, like if you have got your 12 computer out and ran 14 web searches, eight lots of Photoshop and Word for Windows, 13 it would gradually grind to a halt right? That's exactly what going to the gym is 14 like for me, putting myself in a position of vulnerability, having to meet lots of 15 people and things that aren't necessarily predictive. I can't always say who will be 16 there, who won't be there and that's aside from any symptom that is I have.' 17 18 'But what playing badminton has done, from a physical activity point of view, has 19 been the finger that pushed the dominoes, after I start to play, one of my best 20 friends said you're getting fit, I'm getting lardy, what are we going to do about it? 21 So doing badminton in the mental health setting gave me the confidence to start 22 aerobics at the local sport centre with a friend.' 23 24 'I get a buzz afterwards, feel like I have achieved something, feel energised. I 25 definitely feel good that I can do something normal. The teacher is very dedicated, 26 but not draconian, so much so on a few occasions, when the others haven't been able 27 to go, I have gone on my own, I'm sure I wouldn't have done that without badminton 28 group." 29 30 We'll pause again from Laura's story there. I'd like to turn now, that was the 31 storytelling. I'd like to turn to a bit of story analysis to consider what's been 32 some of the issues and themes in the story generally, not just Laura's, but the other 33 participants too. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 75 1 So I'd like to suggest, which is something Kitrina focused on in our book in 2010, 2 Three Avenues, through which we have seen physical activity and sport be helpful, I'm 3 not saying they are the only three, but they have been evident in our data. 4 5 The first is activity as a stepping stone or a vehicle to something else. I'd like 6 to share little Mark's interview transcripts with you to give a sense of this: Mark 7 said: "I had a chat with Sarah when I was in woodwork, she suggested I take up a bit 8 of exercise to get a bit fitter. She said I wasn't very fit. So that's what I 9 decided to do, take up a bit of exercise on the bike. That's where I started. I 10 progressed, one thing led to another, progress to football, badminton and walking 11 group." 12 13 Later on Mark reflected on how, "I'm a bit fitter than I used to be doing woodwork, I 14 can saw bits of wood, it helps me build strength for digging weeds, made me stronger, 15 capable of gardening." He also suggested exercise has not made me into a different 16 person, I'm still Mark, but feel a bit more energised and with it than did I when I 17 started. So for me Mark's account is very matter of fact, he is not particularly 18 passionate about activity, it isn't a reason for him to say yes to life, but perhaps 19 the accounts start to take on a little more meaning, if you know and understand that 20 actually Mark hopes to return to work, he hasn't worked for many years, but he hopes 21 to return to work as a part-time gardener, so perhaps as a consequence of his 22 medication, perhaps his lifestyle, perhaps being in mental health services again for 23 several years, his fitness and strength wasn't up to the task in his view, so the 24 activity was something that equipped him to do that, so it was a stepping stone or 25 vehicle that was meaningful for him, is that perhaps for him would ultimately be a 26 reason to say yes to life. 27 28 Also within this, Mark's account is a sense of using time, of being busy. If I ask 29 colleagues around Leeds Met how are you, what's the one word? Busy! Nine people out 30 of ten, I've done surveys, they say busy, it's part of our culture to be busy and use 31 our time. It's different in mental health services, where often people aren't busy, 32 don't have much to occupy their time, so Mark's tapping into mainstream culture and 33 using time to do things. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 76 1 So across other participants, the sorts of things we see as a stepping stone or 2 vehicle are these sorts of areas. Things you have read about perhaps in other 3 studies in this area, not particularly surprising, but I think important because that 4 activity serves as this stepping stone, and it may well be that people, we've 5 certainly experienced participants like this ourselves, only do activity for a while 6 because they realise the goal, and there is no point, they don't want to carry on 7 with the gym because they are now fit enough that they can sustain whatever they 8 really wanted to do and I think that's okay. 9 10 The second avenue that we've found is a bit more of an intrinsic focus on physical 11 activity and sport, we talked about it as recreating an athletic identity, so again 12 Repper and Perkins talked about how everyone over time develops a sense of who they 13 are, but the sense of self is profoundly challenged and fragmented by the experience 14 of mental health problem. Within each person who faced mental health problems there 15 remains a persistent healthy self trying to survive, this is all too easily eclipsed 16 by the identity of mental patient, which tends to mask all other identities. 17 18 So interviews with one participant called Ben provided an example of this fairly 19 clearly, Ben was a runner, he was very keen on competitive running, before he was 20 diagnosed with schizophrenia, over a period of several years the acute phase of his 21 illness and physical side-effects of medication, that's a big body weight gain, he 22 went from about 12 stone up to nearly 20 stone, 40% gain, made it impossible for him 23 to run, so not only did he not run and was not active, he lost an element of himself, 24 thought of himself as a runner, he could no longer see himself and think of himself 25 as a runner. 26 27 For him returning to activity, I would suggest, helped him to recreate an element of 28 his identity, an important and valued aspect of who he thought of himself as a 29 person. He said I started getting fitter and fitter and eventually I was back, apart 30 from being overweight, I was back to normal again. The first time I was out running 31 again I felt on top of the world, I was back to what I used to be like, doing the 32 running again. 33 34 He also had this to say, I suppose in a way running is a bit of a drug, I want to do Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 77 1 it to get that good feeling back again, but I think it's better actually than 2 drinking, because if you drink you're living in a dream world, but if you're keeping 3 fit it's free, you don't have to pay, you do it because you like doing it, you don't 4 live in a dream world, you are making yourself feel better, other people get a kick 5 out of other things, but for me it's exercise. 6 7 So within these types of accounts, I think, is a move of Ben being an object that's 8 acted on by the medical profession, that's prescribed tablets, takes tablets to some 9 kind of active agent or subject, he is doing something himself that's helpful and 10 important to him. 11 12 So in this sense his illness is a journey, it's leading him to a new and different 13 lifestyle. 14 15 So for Ben it's some sort of return to an athletic identity, which may not always be 16 rosy, there are problems, there is research out there into that, however compared to 17 the identity of a mental health patient, I think it's preferable, certainly for Ben 18 getting back to that seemed to be important. The illness was denying, if you like, 19 an aspect of his self, he couldn't run, he lost that strand to his identity. 20 21 And the third avenue of the three, if I had to distill our work into three words, 22 they would be it. Action, achievement and relationships. And this is where we have 23 used as a narrative researcher, we have used narrative theory to try and make sense, 24 to try and interpret what we're hearing in people's stories. And what we saw was 25 three types of story that were shared and very often enacted, not always spoken but 26 actually lived as a script in some way. 27 28 I think these three are core to a lot of people's experiences who find mental 29 activity beneficial. 30 31 So looking at those briefly, first action, it's going places and doing stuff. One 32 participant said it's just that I've got an activity for the afternoon I'm not sat 33 watching TV, I watch so much that it draws me, I need to get away, break away from a 34 day indoors and get out and do something, something to get me out of bed that Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 78 1 morning. 2 3 Another said about football, when he plays football my mind is occupied, I think 4 other things, I don't really think about bad things I might think about if I wasn't 5 doing something. It can happen with other things, but sport is such an active thing, 6 it tends to have that effect on me. 7 8 So there is obviously advantages in doing stuff, going places, many of us get 9 benefits from that, there is also, I suggest, advantages in that that gives us 10 stories, gives us something to talk about. So it's a way of living rather than doing 11 nothing in perhaps a psychiatric unit, perhaps in a day centre, it's actually doing 12 stuff rather than being passive. So very much a contrast with perhaps one of the 13 dominant stories of severe mental illness, Patricia Deegan's work, which talks about 14 the endless time, day and day of nothingness, smoking cigarettes. 15 16 Second type of story, was an achievement story. So one individual during a golf 17 programme said I hit a lovely one last week with the six iron when we were out on the 18 pitch and putt course on the first tee. I couldn't believe it. I thought how the 19 hell did I do that? I thought well I've got to try and remember what I've actually 20 done to hit the ball, prepared for the shot, swung the club and it worked, I thought 21 hurray, yeah, I've done it, it's amazing, I amazed myself really, I thought it wasn't 22 going to work out that way. 23 24 So within this account hopefully it communicates, I'm trying to read it reasonably in 25 a live fashion, is a sense of joy, elation, success experience, I think we all, I 26 imagine everyone in this room knows how powerful that can be. It's particularly 27 powerful, I think, which very much struck us, in the context of severe mental 28 illness, a sense of surprise, many people are surprised that they can do it right, 29 that they can pull it off. It's very sad I think, whatever their experience have 30 been in mental health services, they have lost faith in their own ability. 31 32 So low expectations that are actually challenged because someone sees themselves pull 33 something off, holing a putt or whatever it may be. Those sorts of stories build and 34 in concentric circles like a stone into a pond, they build and circle and start to Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 79 1 spread. 2 3 The final one is relationships, one person said you're meeting other people, sharing 4 a common thing, common, exercising that experience, all doing the same thing, same 5 experience, got something to talk about. So these stories all three of them are 6 connected to what individuals experience through activity and support. Without 7 actually the experience these stories would just be fabrications, they wouldn't be 8 authentic. 9 10 I suggest people can't tell a story without the experience in the first place. But 11 then a positive side is through activity in sport, is those stories are very often 12 shared, a lot of the sports are group, communal, social activities, so these stories 13 can be co-constructed, build together, and there is not only something to the story 14 but an audience to share the stories with, so it starts to become a community, going 15 on, that starts with the activity, without the activity it can't happen. 16 17 So John MacLeod a psycho-therapist suggested adventure experiences give a person a 18 ready supply of stories through which to create an identity, both in the form of an 19 on-going self narrative, but also a story that is shared with and co-constructed with 20 other people, so the activity, one of the benefits that we have seen it bring, is 21 providing material and resources for life stories, also the second thing is an 22 opportunity to share the stories. 23 24 Importantly those stories are generally very positive, particularly when compared to 25 medical narratives and stories about mental illness, which tend to be as the 26 literature shows focus on deficits, dysfunction and difficulties. 27 28 I'd like to return to Laura's story briefly. 29 "Now things are even more unusual because I'm mad and pregnant. After the baby is 30 born I'm going to be discharged, I'm not sure if I'm going to have access to the 31 activity run by the Trust. Badminton group is less threatening than a mainstream 32 class, there is a little group of us that stay for a drink in the cafe, we build up a 33 nice social group, three have been approached about attending a move-on class so I'll 34 lose those friends. The other thing was badminton was stoking all the other Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 80 1 exercise, it has an important role in that it makes normal things to access. Without 2 the security of supported activity, community sport becomes a mountain to climb.' 3 4 'It's weird, they build you up for discharge, which is great, but it also curtails 5 your access to all those things that help you stay stable.' 6 7 'From when you start to get poorly, to when you accept the diagnosis, you are putting 8 your brain in society's straitjacket, and that expects you to conform in a certain 9 way, when you can relax and accept who you are, the problems the challenges and 10 bonuses it might give you, you can blossom in a different way. It might be very 11 different to the expected path, it's a better one, well it suits me better anyway.' 12 13 'People assume with bipolar that you don't want it, but if you took me back ten years 14 when I was a high-flying achiever, a state everyone assumes I want to get back to, 15 very few bother to check in and find out I'm happier than I have ever been and 16 probably weller than I have ever been too!" 17 18 Several core themes are in the recovery literature, sorts of experiences that people 19 talk about, retrospectively in their recovery from mental health difficulties my PhD 20 advisor, Ken Fox, at Bristol University, in the early 2000s, published a paper in 21 '99, I think it was saying that physical activity and mental health was a horses for 22 courses phenomenon. I think he was right about that, people have diverse needs for 23 recovery and they can gain very diverse benefits or outcomes through physical 24 activity, I suggest all of those, any or all are potentially satisfiable through -- 25 satisfiable? 26 27 Potentially can be satisfied through involvement in physical activity and sport. 28 They are not going to be for everyone, not all the time, but they are for some 29 people, some of the time. 30 31 Perhaps this flexibility is the key, there isn't a single answer to the physical 32 activity mental health relationship, instead it's much more complex and individual 33 specific. I think practitioners get that better than we do as researchers. My 34 partner James is a Pilates teacher, he works with people all the time on a one-to-one Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 81 1 class basis who he recognises as having unique individual needs, he doesn't have a 2 problem with that; researchers, we sometimes fall into the trap of trying to find a 3 single answer when actually a single answer doesn't exist. 4 5 So where now with research in activity and mental health? These are just some of our 6 thoughts, suggestions, very briefly some researchers are suggesting that we need to 7 look more at what's a physical activity, so the prescription if you like, what 8 activities? What frequency? Intensity, duration and so on are most effective. I 9 think that might be important, might be useful, but we also need to focus on the how. 10 Perhaps we need to more focus on this to balance it up a bit, what kind of culture, 11 ethos, environments are useful for people with mental health problems? 12 13 Research in psychotherapy and counselling suggest consistently the single best 14 predictor of outcome is relationship between therapist and client, not the type of 15 therapy, but the relationship, I think it's likely in activity and sport similar 16 sorts of dynamics exist. 17 18 What can we do to include hard to reach groups, typically in England ethnic 19 minorities have a low uptake particularly in mental health settings. 20 21 How can we better support people through discharge? Laura talked about the 22 dependability and then being well enough to no longer receive the care and then 23 losing those groups, so what can we do to sustain and ease that transition process? 24 25 Also it may be time that we start to research a little more alternative forms of 26 activity that many of you here I know are involved in, such as dance, outdoor 27 activities such as surfing, canoeing whatever it may be. 28 29 Finally, what kind of research do we want? Can we ever prove this? I'm doubtful we 30 can, I think we're talking about things that can never be measured. So the natural 31 sciences model of measuring objects and only accepting statistical evidence is not 32 going to work in the mental health field and activity area in my opinion. 33 34 We need to start changing what we, as a community, accept as evidence, and include Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 82 1 within that carefully gathered, analysed and considered survivor stories and 2 experiences, because I think things like hope, optimism, a reason to say yes to life 3 are things that are very difficult to put a number to. 4 5 So thank you very much for your time, thank you for coming this afternoon, I'm sorry 6 I have done everything in English and not been able to offer any different languages! 7 But I very much appreciate you coming. 8 9 I hope it's been useful for you in your own work, your own lives, or some aspect of 10 it. 11 12 Thanks also to the participants, this research wouldn't have happened without people 13 being generous enough to share their stories and experiences with Kitrina and I, 14 thanks also to the committee for inviting me, it's an honour to speak to you today, I 15 very much appreciate the invitation and welcome that has been given. Thank you very 16 much. 17 18 MR O'FLYNN: Thanks very much David, a really fascinating presentation, I'm sure you 19 will agree. And I'm sure it raised a number of questions, Dr Carless is happy to 20 take questions now, or during the rest of the congress or during the expert group on 21 Tuesday, but we do have 5 to 7 minutes now if you have any questions for Dr David 22 Carless we have a mic to go around if you want. 23 24 While we're waiting, Thomas do you want to? While we're waiting, we'd like to make, 25 as an organising committee, a small presentation to Dr Carless, this is Thomas 26 Aylward of the organising committee. 27 28 MR AYLWARD: I might mention that the presentation to David is the piece of pottery 29 from one of the famous potters here in Kerry, Louis Mulcahy Pottery on the Dingle 30 peninsula, it's an oil lamp inscribed "Shining The Light On APA" and what David has 31 done in his research, like many of the researchers presenting here this week, is 32 shining a light on areas that don't always get a lot of attention, so thank you very 33 much David. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 83 1 MR O'FLYNN: So is there any questions? 2 DR CARLESS: Oh no, this is bad! 3 MR O'FLYNN: Again while we're waiting, can I just remind all poster presenters to be 4 at their stands from 4 o'clock, that's in a few minutes, until 5.30 for the formal 5 presentation for the first formal presentation, in this room afterwards, right after 6 this there will be the EUFAPA General Assembly. I see a question thank you. 7 8 Q. Thank you, David, it's not really a question, it's more a comment and a request, I 9 know that apart from the data in the narratives that you presented here, you have 10 other work, especially in the context of mental health, that as there are no other 11 questions, if you could share with us some of your expertise also in that specific 12 composite. 13 14 DR CARLESS: The narrative methods? 15 Q. No with the project of golf. 16 17 DR CARLESS: I've known Pedro for about 12 years, he is referring to work we did 18 while we were PhD students in Bristol in 2003, I was working, studying as a 19 researcher in a particular day centre that was quite groundbreaking at the time in 20 terms of the activity provision that was made there, but it was, tended to be 21 particular types of activity, they had a small gym with a rowing machine and 22 treadmill and that was about it I think. 23 24 But Kitrina was a professional golfer, so she suggested that we tried using golf, 25 which we hadn't done before, I hate golf! For me it's not a culture that I'm at all 26 comfortable with, so we argued for months about the wisdom of inviting a stigmatised 27 section of society into one of the most stigmatising areas there is, golf clubs, 28 potentially! 29 30 Kitrina won, she always wins! And we managed to raise a small amount of money to run 31 a programme over the summer, so we did half day golf group, which some of the stories 32 from today came from that, one afternoon a week. 33 34 Kitrina led those sessions, she is a very good coach, very well suited to Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 84 1 differentiation, working with people at different levels, and that was actually taken 2 on within that centre and they have managed to keep the golf group running because of 3 the response it got. It was fantastic for us, because it was actually a chance to 4 give a little back, researchers tend to take, take, take, so it was nice to have a 5 chance to actually put something on that gave people a chance to try a new activity 6 or run to activity that they had done before. 7 8 Q. Hi David, would you advocate that people with mental health problems don't take 9 medication? And if exercise is pre-descriptive, how much of the prescription should 10 it be? 11 DR CARLESS: No I wouldn't -- I'm not from a mental health background, I'm physical 12 education, so activity, sport and PE, so I wouldn't presume to say that nobody should 13 take medication. My understanding is based on service user's accounts of their 14 experiences, so some people, Peter Chadwick's one who published a lot, a psychologist 15 on his own experience with schizophrenia and he said medication helped him without a 16 shadow of a doubt, he wouldn't be living his life in as independent a way now without 17 the medication. 18 19 Others have felt medication has been problematic, so I wouldn't say that we need to 20 stop using medication, I think for me it would be irresponsible to say that. 21 However, I think like a lot of people, I think I would have concerns that it's the 22 first and primary means of treatment or intervention. I think we need some 23 diversity, so I think I have some mental health difficulties myself in my teens, we 24 had, that was back with family general practitioner I went to see with my mum, and he 25 didn't give me tablets, he arranged for me to talk to someone, some counselling and I 26 think it's really important that we provide these resources for people, young and 27 old, and not just assume that medication is the best treatment. 28 29 I think the research evidence, research is perhaps easier to conduct with tablets 30 they are standardised, randomised control trials work very well, it's much harder for 31 activities and talking therapies, which we can't standardise, that's harder to 32 compare those. 33 34 So I see activity, which is something hopefully discussed in a care team and with Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 85 1 that individual in terms of whether it would be potentially satisfactory or desirable 2 in their lives. And some participants certainly rated it as more important in 3 recovery than other forms of intervention, while others valued the medication over 4 psychotherapy, but thank you for your question. 5 MR O'FLYNN: Anyone else? 6 Q. I have a question, when you are looking at different sports, do you make any 7 differentiation between a sport which can be done on your own, like running, or a 8 sport which brings you into contact with others like badminton? Are they a 9 progression or are they different things for different people? 10 DR CARLESS: That's a good question as well, it's hard to make those distinctions, 11 what we have seen is some people start with a single sport, like Mark talked about 12 going to the gym and then that was the thing that pushed the dominoes in Laura's 13 phrase that led to him doing social activities; Ben was someone who was really only 14 interested in running and he did that on his own, however it was still a social 15 activity, because he would still talk with others about running, about the results of 16 his races when he was competing, other people -- it is the social thing that they are 17 interested in. So we haven't looked particularly at whether they lead to different 18 outcomes, some people I think have probably a reference for some rather than others, 19 I think as was discussed this morning by the Minister, it's really important that we 20 consider what individuals actually want and value, and what suits them in trying to 21 support those needs. 22 23 MR O'FLYNN: I think that's as good a way as any to finish. Thank you all very much 24 and Dr Carless, I think another round of applause please. 25 26 End of Presentation 27 28 MR O'FLYNN: A final announcement, poster presenters to your stands EUFAPA general 29 assembly in here, thank you all very much. 30 31 DR KUDLACEK: Our General Assembly will begin about two minutes and last half an 32 hour, so you can get both. General assembly will start in two minutes and go for 30 33 minutes, so you can stay. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 86 1 EUFAPA General Assembly 2 3 DR KUDLACEK: Introducing the board of directors of EUFAPA. We have somewhere the 4 organising of EUCAPA 2010, 2012 Ursula trying to get people from poster session and 5 most important our organising for 2012 Javier from Spain that's very important and 6 the EUCAPA 2014 will be also introduced at the closing ceremony where there will be 7 more people but we are going for a short informative session on the assembly. 8 9 We'll go first with the report on EUFAPA and the European journal will be done by 10 Pedro, then Javier will talk about EUCAPA 2014 and then we'll talk about membership. 11 12 So about the news, what is the key place for sharing the news and information, is the 13 website of European Federation of Adapted Physical Activity, where you can find a lot 14 of interesting information and the website is very easy on us, you know that 15 www.eufapa.eu, so you can find all the details needed in there. 16 17 EUFAPA is trying to get engaged in a project currently with IT Tralee there is a 18 discussion with EUFAPA being a partner in the UNESCO project that IT Tralee has put 19 application in. So we are also thinking under the leadership to prepare some 20 projects to be determined and submitted for 2012 with European Commission. 21 22 In the past we have been directly involved in the project of EUSAPA and we are 23 developing EIPET hopefully we'll come to a conclusion on that. All the information 24 you can find on eufapa.eu. We have also been approached by the company developing 25 the new concept of hand cycle, also power assisted and we are considering also the 26 partnership of EUFAPA, especially on European tour that we would be promoting most 27 European federations, this new hand cycle that is perfect for more recreation and 28 training. 29 30 So I would like quickly to pass the board to Jose and Pedro to tell you about the 31 journal. 32 33 JOSE: Good afternoon the European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity. EUJAPA is a 34 projected started in 2008, it was a continuous work from the previous bulletin of Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 87 1 Adapted Physical Activity, however we would like to take this opportunity to promote 2 the journal and also to give you some information about what we have been doing over 3 these last four years. 4 5 So basically the journal is now using a new online journal system for submissions of 6 new manuscripts, so it's improving and becoming more efficient in the peer reviewing 7 process, as all of you know this journal is a peer review journal, so we were able, 8 during the last year, to give this step forward in quality. 9 10 We are also the journal is also indexed in the EPSCO database and Index Copernicus 11 International, which is also an important opportunity, as it is considered in 12 database research and it is valued for scientific purposes. 13 14 Recently the journal had some changes in the editorial board, basically in the 15 editor, Yves Valandnik has been in front of the journal for about 10 or 11 years, 16 recently he decided he was no more available to keep as the main editor, so the 17 editorial board just decided that Martin Kudlacek would assume the position of editor 18 and we have three other co-editors. 19 20 So basically this new, this is an image of the new submission system and we have now 21 published four years of publications with two issues because we have a period of six 22 months publication and we have now eight numbers published. Of course they are 23 available on our web page as well as some of the back issues related to the European 24 Union bullet of Adapted Physical Activity as I mentioned before. 25 26 So just a few days ago with a very hard effort from the editor and the support 27 technical team we were able to put online the number one from 2012 issue and with two 28 basic interesting features. 29 30 The first one is that we have, for the first time, a publication and articles 31 submitted and accepted for publication from China, and we have two articles from 32 China, so the journal is no longer searched by just European Adapted Physical 33 Activity groups as we have submissions from United States, from China and from other 34 countries outside of Europe. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 88 1 2 The second important thing is that we were able to publish this issue of 2012 with 3 five papers, usually we publish the issue with four papers, but we have now an extra 4 paper and I presume that with the increasing number of submissions every year, we'll 5 be able to proceed and probably to step up to six, that would be a good opportunity, 6 six articles per issue. 7 8 So just to remind about the editorial policy of the paper, we are a peer review 9 paper, the major aim of the journal is to spread scientific knowledge in the area of 10 APA, providing researches with new opportunities of publication and this is the basic 11 idea, or the major idea of the journal, was to help young master and PhD students in 12 Europe to publish their research in the area of APA. So our approach in the journal, 13 as peer review journal, is to help authors to build up their manuscripts, and of 14 course we are available to send for a second and a third resubmission and to make 15 changes in order to help the authors in this publication process. 16 17 So during 2011 and 2012 we had 30 submissions and from this 30 submissions, 13 18 articles were published. So we have a little bit lower than 50% but I think it is an 19 important contribution for the area. 20 21 Thank you very much, we hope you submit your manuscripts in the future to EUJAPA. 22 Thank you. 23 24 DR KUDLACEK: Thank you Pedro for a nice presentation, I would like to thank Pedro, 25 Aija and other reviewers who worked really hard to make this journal with a growing 26 number of submissions, we are growing also in quality. 27 28 Next presentation will be by Javier, a little presentation on EUCAPA 2014, I will 29 prepare it, this is like the famous movies, it's the before, the premiere, so it's a 30 special for you because you stayed for the assembly, you will be first in the world 31 to see this presentation so please Javier. 32 33 JAVIER: Thank you Martin, I feel proud and honoured to be selected by the EUFAPA to 34 host European Conference of Adapted Physical Activity in 2012 -- sorry 14! Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 89 1 2 We have been working I have to say, hard, but I have to say first, thank you to two 3 main institutions or organisations, I would like to thank of course EUFAPA for the 4 process of selection to really evaluate with a very nice eyes our bid, our proposal, 5 and I want to thank the whole team of EUCAPA 2012, Ursula, Liam, all the people 6 organising this wonderful congress, because it was already in October 2009 that I 7 came here just to hear what is going on, something about EIPET or something about 8 that European Inclusive Physical Education Training and I get really amazed by the 9 capability to do things regarding physical activity and inclusive settings. 10 11 So with these two inspirations in Madrid we'll try to take their relay of this 12 conference, so this is our aim. 13 14 Just to introduce the conference, which is in our mind at this first moment, is that 15 as you see, the main theme of the conference will be something similar to the one 16 that we are here, but we want to go a little bit further: "Inclusion into action: 17 Applications from research." 18 19 We are talking a lot these days about inclusive settings and from our centre and the 20 organiser of the conference of 2014, we'll try to analyse the real context of 21 inclusive practice, so as the preview or keynote presenter said; "research sometimes 22 is not what we need, we need something else." So we're trying to really apply a 23 research in the real context of inclusion, and keeping this in mind we want to offer 24 a really unique opportunity for sports scientist and professionals to present their 25 work, but different disciplines to come together and be inspired about new 26 developments, research application and information related to sport science, sport 27 medicine, physical education, health promotion and physical movement therapies in the 28 context of APA. 29 30 And even more, we would like just to promote fruitful and long standing co-operation 31 between professional experts and institutions within Europe and of course worldwide. 32 33 And I want just to now introduce the organiser who is let's say behind the event is 34 the Centre for Inclusive Sports Studies, which is located in the faculty of Sports Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 90 1 Science of the Technology University of Madrid, and this centre is proudly supported 2 by Santas Foundation, a private company. 3 4 So this triangle has arised this centre, and now it is facing this challenge and we 5 are really here in Killarney these days, trying to learn and this assembly I would 6 like to just let you know that we really would like to just be the congress of 7 EUFAPA. 8 9 It's not only a matter of our faculty and I would like EUFAPA to be engaged in the 10 process to make the congress grow up and of course trying to - we are trying to, and 11 my team is here, Mia and Javier are here, we are trying to collate all the good 12 information that we are looking here, scientific level of course but organisational 13 level too and of course Tony in 2010 a wonderful EUCAPA conference and of course this 14 one in Tralee. 15 16 You have this information in the flier that you can easily pick up outside next to 17 the coffee when you will go to take the coffee please take a flier, with the 18 important dates, this is the first event, we didn't mention it at our faculty, even 19 in our department so you are really -- you are really the first receiver of the news. 20 21 It will be next October and then in 2014 we'll start with the process of receiving 22 the abstracts for publication. 23 24 I don't want to go very in deep, I just want to accepted you a piece of information 25 regarding our centre, and our centre is trying to - the mission of the centre is to 26 try to, from a research point of view, to analyse and spread benefits of health 27 oriented physical activity and sport for people with disabilities which is something 28 we are really going deep in this conference and this is I think the key issue of 29 EUFAPA. 30 31 So we'll keep -- we use this practice from an inclusive perspective to try to 32 sensibilise the mainstream sports and at the same time offer opportunities for 33 practice and places to update your knowledge. 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 91 1 At the same time for me I have to say it's a pleasure to try and take this interest 2 into Madrid and be a reference at international level to the discussion of this best 3 practice. 4 5 One of the main activities that we have been launching this last year has been the 6 inclusive sport week that we organise together with our sponsor and it's a week that 7 we develop in October and in October 2014 we would like to mix, to merge the two 8 events. And merging the two events but keeping the eye on our aim, to promote sport 9 practice from the scientific, academic and educational field. 10 11 And using the inclusive context as a method of research. 12 13 So these are the four areas in which we are working we have research, we have grants 14 for PhD students. Training and formation, like even the inclusive sport week, or now 15 the EUCAPA 2014. We have activities and implementation, real activities of inclusion 16 that we work together with other sponsors that I will introduce you now. And the 17 diffusion of this knowledge. 18 19 These are the partners that are behind our alliance, we have an alliance in Spain 20 promoting Inclusive Sport which can coordinated, we have our national paralympic 21 committee, we have the television of Madrid and we have I know Pat really likes Real 22 Madrid, we have the Real Madrid foundation, one of our major collaborators, for 23 example last weekend we have inclusive basketball camp, five days of children 24 together, in one activity organised by Real Madrid Foundation, so in this way we are 25 working as collaborators and even consultancy at technical level -- this is a 26 picture, this is the fourth edition of this camp and I have to say for me it's 27 difficult to be very objective when I talk about this camp, because it's a really, 28 really fruitful, not only for the children, even for us for the technical stuff, to 29 work during these days with the children because they don't have -- they don't see 30 the disability as you can imagine. 31 32 We have another academic and scientific level institution that will support this 33 conference, of course our department, the faculty of health and human performance, we 34 have the royal patronage on disability and we have different, you can see here Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 92 1 different universities in Madrid, apart from ours, and this is something really 2 important for us. We'll try to make the conference very linked with a university 3 that is engaged with APA, teachers of other faculties, we have in Madrid 7 faculties 4 of sports science, three public and four private, so there is a lot of interest, 5 because APA is a key subject in the degree. 6 7 Of course we have the director of reference centre for disability in Lyon, and our 8 national hospital for paraplegic, which is really leading some research areas in 9 Spain. And at the same time the federations of sport, disability federations in our 10 country. And some that are not related with disability, because now in Spain you may 11 know the process of integration of disability sport into mainstream sport is a really 12 big, big problem we can say. Sometimes we forget the athlete in this process, but 13 this is another issue. 14 15 Well you see here this is a picture last October, you see there Aija, we had a form 16 in the Real Madrid stadium, sorry Pat, just to let you know that our sponsors are 17 really, really committed with the idea of -- to spread out the knowledge that we are 18 generating and I have to say, I was really proud, but at the same time a little bit 19 anxious because we were being evaluated to be or not to be the host of EUCAPA 2014, 20 so for us it was another challenge. 21 22 I have to tell you now, you can go to the website and you can see the basic 23 information that I'm translating for you, you have it on the flier and you have a 24 website similar that we have here in Tralee, but 2014 and you have an e-mail -- so I 25 asked, kindly ask EUFAPA to help us to promote as much as possible the congress. 26 27 I will ask people from Finland, people from ITT to help us too, because I know that 28 now here we have the best conference possible, but we would like to go a little bit 29 further, I don't know how, but we'll try. 30 31 And this is something that I think that Tralee and here in the conference we are 32 enjoying, is the practical setting, to have the opportunity to enjoy the keynotes, 33 all the communication, but at the same time the practical, this is something that we 34 won't forget in Madrid in 2014. Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 93 1 2 So even from the very first week, the inclusive sport week we have in October 2010 we 3 have key speakers like Oscar Pistorius, we asked him to go to the track, we couldn't 4 convince him to run with our students in an inclusive practice, but I have to tell 5 you, his speech was really inspired, inspirational because a lot of people talk about 6 this issue, but most of the time people don't ask him or ask the people with 7 disabilities, so we wanted to ask him what's going on in his mind and his motivation 8 and how was his PE and so on, it was really fruitful. 9 10 And at the same time you see we have different sport practice from the inclusive 11 points of view. 12 13 Just to finish Martin I want to just share a little video, I hope it will work. 14 15 Just to get some inspiration. 16 17 (Video played) 18 19 That's just a piece of inspiration that we tried to get from our practice and I just 20 want to finish, just trying to ask you for, not help, help of course, support, and I 21 really do hope to see you in Madrid in 2014. Thank you very much. 22 23 DR KUDLACEK: I am a little bit worried as Javier mentioned if we are going to keep 24 raising the bar on the quality of the conferences, I don't know where we are, and 25 tell your friends that went to change for surfing or coffee that they missed a lot so 26 they will not be invited to Real Madrid by Pat and us, you should tell them! 27 28 Now we'll have a short report by secretary Aija Clavijna. 29 30 MS CLAVIJNA: Okay I will be really short because we are running out of time, 31 basically as you can see numbers, member number -- the numbers have increased 32 enormously since 2006 when I got the list of members; I think I had about 70 or 80 33 e-mail addresses, so now we have over 200 and unfortunately here it's very few of 34 you, but thanks for being here. And that's why we have to change a little bit in the Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 94 1 future, over maintaining this list of membership so we don't lose those who have sent 2 member applications two years ago and especially students who have been students two 3 years ago or four years ago and today these people are not students any more and have 4 other e-mail addresses and since we don't have a membership fee and we don't have any 5 other control system to maintain membership list, so we have some innovations in the 6 future just to help us and help you as being members to monitor how many are real 7 members and how we can contribute also of course, increasing the bar of organising 8 EUCAPA conferences, we have to help us help you increase the bar and help organising 9 committees and also help those who maybe cannot attend those conferences because of 10 financial issues and create some support for these people and especially for 11 countries who are new in APA area. 12 13 So we have decided to start with a low contribution payment to EUFAPA to €20 for two 14 years and that will be part of your payment membership. 15 16 So basically it will be started in 2014 and as I mentioned it will be included in the 17 conference fee, of course for those who are not going to be attending our conference 18 there are going to be other possibility to pay this payment, but as I mentioned 19 before, it's only because this enormous increase of members and of course we want to 20 have more members in the future. And to monitor and maintain real member list, so we 21 need control system and as mentioned before, also to support those countries and 22 maybe have some scholarship, award system for those who cannot pay maybe registration 23 fee for European conferences. 24 25 So basically this is in short about members and I don't know if we want to add 26 something? But it has been really appreciable to see how the numbers of members 27 increase, if you see Finland where EUCAPA was organised the number of members 28 increased, Ireland again number of members increased, hopefully Spain next time 29 number of members will increase because of Spain, so that's how we can attract more 30 members and spread the information about EUFAPA. Thank you. 31 32 DR KUDLACEK: Thank you very much, we promised to be short so we are slowly getting 33 to the end. There is one important initiative we are taking and that's under the 34 leadership of Tony Bisponan. It was Tony who is trying to create a network of Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie 95 1 national organisations of Adapted Physical Activity, at this stage we know there are 2 such organisations in Sweden, Italy, France, Czech Republic and Poland, until now we 3 have only formally registered associations from Czech and Sweden, so there is going 4 to be on our priority list and we are thinking about organising workshops or mini 5 symposium and it will develop on how APA is developed in different nations. 6 7 Quick reminder we are looking at 2016 so in about one year time, usually in fall 2013 8 there will be calls for organisers of EUCAPA 2016 so keep that in mind, share with 9 the crowds that will be on the beach and in Irish pubs, so we'll be announcing it 10 also on the website and online and we'll be also announcing it at the next event and 11 so on. 12 13 So thank you very much, we didn't have 214 people but we had those people that really 14 cared and wanted to learn and as I said it's very hard to compete against the beach, 15 a sunny day after a full day sitting inside and a good Irish Guinness, so thank you 16 all. And I'm looking forward to the next two days here with you, thank you and 17 thanks to the board members. 18 19 End of event 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd www.pcr.ie