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Examining the factors that influence successful participation in habitual physical activity of children and youth who are blind or visually impaired : a retrospective study

University of British Columbia

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that have influenced successful participation in physical activity of school-aged children and youth who are blind or visually impaired. Data for this study were gathered through analysis of the personal narratives of four blind, physically active young adults (one active adult and three competitive athletes) as they reflected on key childhood and youth experiences that positively influenced their participation in physical activity. Using a socio-ecological framework, the study sought to map out, in detail, the individual and interconnected factors (e.g. family, teacher, peer attitudes) that influenced success within and across three different environments (family, school and community). The results found common themes across participant narratives indicating identifiable success factors related to the family and school environments. While individual themes emerged related to the community environment, they did not recur across the participant narratives. Interconnections among the three environments were similarly evident in individual participant narratives, but no recurring themes were found for this across participant narratives. Taken as a whole, the results present a holist perspective of the complex web of factors that have helped craft successful experiences and foster continued participation in physical activity for the individuals in this study.

Text

2010-08-11

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/27273

Special Education

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/