It's Time

So a couple of weeks ago, the Department of Education released new guidance concerning school sports for students with disabilities. If you missed all the buzz, here is a link that explains things pretty well:

Sports are a civil right for the disabled

And here is one organization's viewpoint on the ruling as well as comments that they have heard from the community:

What everyone is getting wrong about special ed sports

The fact that my school district has no real sports opportunities for Ronnie (wheelchair user) has always bothered me greatly. I even floated the idea of forming a district-wide wheelchair sports team about a year ago, and the answer I got was not surprising. The school football team would let Ronnie be an honorary manager for the team. In other words, he could sit on the sidelines and hand water bottles to the players. As long time readers of this blog know, Ronnie is a wheelchair athlete. He is on a non-school related wheelchair basketball team, a team which took a trophy in a tournament last week. He also has played lacrosse and participated in track and field. He is an athlete, not a water bottle manager.

It's time my school district, as well as all other school districts, figured out how to field teams for wheelchair sports. How has your school district responded to the recent DOE ruling, and have they done well in the past for sports for athletes with disabilities.

ATM: Watching Chip take care of Ashley during a stressful time for her this past weekend. He's such a wonderful brother!