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Today, the Department's Office for Civil Rights issued guidance clarifying school districts' existing legal obligations to provide equal access to extracurricular athletic activities to students with disabilities. In addition to explaining those legal obligations, the guidance urges school districts to work with community organizations to increase athletic opportunities for students with disabilities, such as opportunities outside of the existing extracurricular athletic program. Students with disabilities have the right, under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, to an equal opportunity to participate in their schools' extracurricular activities. A 2010 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that many students with disabilities are not afforded an equal opportunity to participate in athletics, and therefore may not have equitable access to the health and social benefits of athletic participation.

Everyone agrees that physical education and athletics are an important educational component for every child.  Participation in sports and extracurricular activities provide important health and social benefits to all students, even more importantly to students with disabilities.   The benefits include heightened self-esteem, understanding the importance of teamwork, sensory relief, fitness, and mental and physical health.

A beautiful video tribute to moms of paralympic athletes was just released and it already has received over 400,000 views. The video highlights the hard work.selflessness and devotion of the mothers to ensure their children participated in athletic events. Check it out

Two weeks ago, a man named Chris Waddell arrived at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. A paraplegic athlete from Park City, Utah, Waddell became the first in his condition to reach the summit of the 19,340-foot peak. In addition to the courage, vision and mental and physical strength he needed to achieve that goal, there was something else that helped propel him to the top of the largest free-standing continental mountain on earth; something that could only be found in the Bitterroot.

Today, ED’s Office for Civil Rights has released guidance that clarifies existing legal obligations of schools to provide students with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate alongside their peers in after-school athletics and clubs. We make clear that schools may not exclude students who have an intellectual, developmental, physical, or any other disability from trying out and playing on a team, if they are otherwise qualified. This guidance builds on a resource document the Department issued in 2011 that provides important information on improving opportunities for children and youth with disabilities to access PE and athletics.

Not long ago, most blind and visually impaired people grew up without ever playing sports; they sat on the sidelines, and kept score during gym-protected rather than included. In the 1980s, few people had ever heard of the Paralympic Games or accessible recreation. Today, promising blind athletes can receive residency at the US Olympic Training Center; runners compete for prize money and national championships, and most ski resorts offer adaptive programs throughout the year where blind people can ski, cycle, and kayak-often for free. The Paralympic movement, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and ever-increasing expectation for inclusion among the disabled have inspired an explosion of accessible sports, fitness, and recreation programs that accommodate the blind. The Encyclopedia of Sports & Recreation for People with Visual Impairments is the first consumer- focused, action-oriented guide to this new world of accessible activity, profiling the people, programs, and products that are helping move blind and visually impaired people from the sidelines into the game. This groundbreaking guide profiles every accessible blind sport and recreation activity with entries that outline how athletes (both novice and elite) got involved in the sport and how participation has shaped their life. The book also profiles major blind sports organizations and includes chapter and resource listings on camps and accessible recreation providers. Through this book, blind people will be inspired to embrace sports as the rest of society does-as a vital component of personal expression and human interaction that opens paths to adventure, confidence, and lifelong health and fitness

Established as a four season based company, we strive to supply athletes with unique needs with    the appropriate specialized equipment for a wide range of athletic disciplines. Whether you're drawn      to sports for their theraputic abilities, recreational enjoyment or the excitement of competition,     AdaptiveSportsEquipment.com has the right products for you. We understand the personalized nature      of many of the products we offer, that's why on each of our product pages you will find detailed      descriptions, video demonstrations and where applicable, sizing information to make sure we match     you with the perfect item.

As the 2010 Winter Olympics enter it's last week, some athletes are just getting ready for their turn at the winter games. The Special Olympics in Montana kick off in Whitefish next Sunday.

While many classrooms have evolved over the years to better work with students with disabilities, the school gym and athletic fields may be the exception. A 2010 report from the federal Government Accountability Office concluded as much, finding that "education has provided little information or guidance on PE or extracurricular athletics for students with disabilities, and some states and districts GAO interviewed said more would be useful."

Athletes with intellectual disabilities will be allowed to participate in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London following a vote of the International Paralympic Committee.

My name is Kathy Thompson and my son Jeffrey is a great kid and an excellent athlete. You would think that he doesn’t have a care in the world, except to make the first string on his football or wrestling team, but that is far from the case. Since kindergarten, Jeffrey struggled to read.

The fight for equality continues to rage on, but no more so than in the frontiers of virtual worlds. These are priceless environments where a man who can’t hear can be a rock star, a woman who can’t see can fly a spaceship and a child who can’t move a muscle can be a world class athlete. Yes, these things called “video games” can bring an immense amount of joy to those who may otherwise be completely locked out of some of life’s most precious moments. Part of keeping vigil over the entertainment industry is warning gamers with disabilities against buying certain games because the designers have overlooked an aspect of accessibility, as well as pointing out the flaws in technology that may prevent certain segments of the disability community from taking part in a new era of fun. But once a year I have the honor of helping identify new and innovative features that hoist one video game above the rest.

Finding sports opportunities for kids with disabilities is not always as simple as going down to the local soccer club during the first week of March for sign-ups.  Many families are not located near an existing adaptive sports team. However, this certainly doesn’t make our kids less interested in sports – or less in need of physical fitness opportunities! Hopefully including children with disabilities in sports will soon get even easier, thanks to new guidance from the U.S. Department of Education that clarifies that school districts are legally obligated to provide equal access to extracurricular athletic activities to students with disabilities.

The U.S. Education Department's Office of Civil Rights on Friday is sending school districts a 13-page guidance document that spells out the rights of students with disabilities to participate in school athletics.

Last winter, a competitive gymnastics team in Lynchburg was looking for a new place to train. Meanwhile, Melissa Thompson, whose youngest daughter was one of the team members, was wondering how to help her older daughter cope with autism. She filled both needs by starting a new business, Elite Athletics, in January. The gym on Doss Road in Concord got off to a slow start, but it now offers numerous classes for people of various ages and skill levels, including one class for children with special needs. It has about 70 students, Thompson said.

Mike Schaff has more than 30 gold medals and about 30 silver ones from the Special Olympics over the years. While he's extremely proud of those, he has a new honor to beam about. Schaff was named the Montana Special Olympics Outstanding Athlete of the Year. He was surprised with the award during the statewide Special Olympics leadership conference in Great Falls last weekend.

Writing one's life story at age 23 may challenge the very definition of "memoir," given the lack of experience most have at that age. But Connolly's habits as a world traveler, his skills as an X Games athlete, and his experience as a man with an obvious disability (he was born without legs), lend him perspective beyond his years.