Intellectual disability sport classification is a classification system used for disability sport that allows people with intellectual disabilities to fairly compete with and against other people with intellectual disabilities. Separate classification systems exist for the elite athlete with a disability side affiliated with the Paralympic movement and Virtus (formerly known as the International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability INAS), and the sports for all model affiliated with Special Olympics. People with intellectual disabilities have issues with conceptual skills, social skills and practical skills. They have IQs of 75 points or lower, limitations in adaptive behaviour and their disability manifested and was documented prior to turning 18 years of age.
ID sport classification started in earnest internationally in 1985 following the creation of INAS. INAS went on to be a founding member of the International Paralympic Committee. ID sportspeople first competed at their own Paralympic Games in 1992, and at the Paralympic Games in 1996. Following a cheating scandal in 2000, ID sports were removed from the Paralympic program for 2004 and 2008 before being reinstated for the 2012 Games.
Intellectual disabilities impact sport performances in a number of ways including causing slower reaction times, less strength, endurance, agility, flexibility and balance. Different coaching strategies are implemented when working with sportspeople with intellectual disabilities. Classification tends to be a two step process. The first is to verify the intellectual disability, often through the use of an IQ test coupled with other diagnostic criteria. After this, sport specific functional classification takes place. This can include watching a person in competition, giving them tests, doing a pacing test or some other test.
Definition and minimal disability type In general, ID sport requires sportspeople to meet three criteria for minimal disability. These include having issues with conceptual skills, social skills and practical skills. Conceptual skills include having issues with language, reading and writing, numbers and money, and ability for self directed learning. Social skills includes having issues with interpersonal communication, naïveté, ability to understand and follow rules and the law, and inability to avoid victimization. Practical skills involve ability to function independently in everyday life.
Organizations that serve people with intellectual disabilities may use other classification systems using World Health Organization or American Psychiatric Association DSM definitions. These definitions may inform their delivery of sporting programs on the local and national level independent of elite sports programs designed for people with intellectual disabilities. They have their roots in earlier classification systems for people with intellectual disabilities, with one of the most widely used one being created in 1961 by the American Association on Mental Retardation, and classing people with an IQ below 85 as having Intellectual Disability. In 1983, this definitions was supplemented to include other variables including interpersonal and sensorimotor skills.
American Association of Intellectual and Development Disabilities (AAIDD) have one such system that is used in the United States. The 2010 AAIDD definition is the basis for Virtus' classification eligibility. Their system is looks like: +AAIDD Intellectual/Developmental Disability LevelsIntellectual Disability levelIQ scoresRefMild Intellectual DisabilityIQ 50–55 to 70-75Moderate Intellectual DisabilityIQ 35–40 to 50-55Severe Intellectual DisabilityIQ 20–25 to 35-40Profound Intellectual DisabilityIQ less than 20-25 Diagnostic usage of this system and similar systems are often used when it comes to funneling people into sports pathways for people with intellectual disabilities, be it at the school level, through Special Olympics or through elite sport programs affiliated with Virtus or the Paralympic movement. Virtus' classification system requires a maximum ID of 75, and that for conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills, people score at least 2 below the standard deviation in one of these three categories, and that the intellectual disability have manifested itself before the person turned 18 years old. Their disability needs to impact their sport performance, and they often have to meet a minimum age requirement. People who are mildly autistic are not likely to be eligible to compete at Virtus or the Paralympic level. Common classes of intellectual disabilities that meet minimum eligibility requirements for Special Olympics include Fragile X Syndrome, Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and people with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Apert Syndrome. In a few cases, it also includes people who acquired their disability as children as a result of traumatic head injuries during childhood.
Governance Virtus (formerly known as International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability - INAS) is the global governing body for competitive sport for people with intellectual disabilities. At the Paralympic Games, the relevant international sport organization takes over classification. In Australia, classification on the national level is governed by Sporting Inclusion Australia (SIA). Sportspeople classified nationally in Australia are not guaranteed that they will meet international classification standards. Locally, Australian eligibility may also be handled by Lifestream Australia. As it relates to sport specific classification in Australia, Swimming Australia supports the relevant classifying agencies in classification assessment. In New Zealand, classification for ID sportspeople is handled by Paralympics New Zealand. In the United Kingdom, classification may be handled on a sport specific basis in partnership with UK Sports Association. For athletics, this is handled by British Athletics. For swimming in Scotland, it is handled by Scottish Disability Sport in partnership with British Para-Swimming.
Under the sport for all model, ID sport classification is handled by Special Olympics. In the United States, ID sport-for-all is handled by Special Olympics USA.
Physiology and performance Testing has shown that people with intellectual disabilities often have less strength, endurance, agility, flexibility, balance and slower running speeds than the non-disabled. They also have lower peak heart rates and lower peak oxygen uptake. Many people with intellectual disabilities also have hearing or vision related disabilities. People with Down syndrome often have a condition called ligamentous laxity, which results in increased flexibility in their joints of their neck. 15% of people with Down syndrome have atlantoaxial instability and decreases in muscle tone. This places them at increased risk of spinal cord injuries.
Intellectual disabilities cause issues with sport performance because of issues with reaction time and processing speed, attention and concentration, working memory, executive function, reasoning and visual-spatial perception. These things are all important components of sports intelligence. Successful coaching strategies differ from other sports. Coaches need to be more effusive with praise, not assume that athletes will understand and retain what they are told, focusing on improving overall physical ability to improve competition performance, focus more skills while playing rather than as independent drills removed from the sport, and revisit concepts often. People with mild levels of Intellectual Disability have performance levels similar to non-disabled sportspeople.
History
Virtus (formerly known as INAS) was founded in 1986, and was a founding member of the International Paralympic Committee. The same year, some national ID sport organizations were created around the globe including AUSRAPID in Australia. These organizations than affiliated with INAS.
In the early 1990s, sports people from this disability group had available as options on the elite level included basketball, athletics, indoor soccer, swimming and table tennis. These sports were the ones on offer at the first INAS World Games in 1990. The first competition similar to the Paralympic Games for people with intellectual disabilities took place in 1992 in Madrid. It was organized by the Association National Prestura de Servicio (ANDE) and INAS-FID. At these Games in 1992, attitudes towards people with ID were oftentimes reflective of attitudes towards these people at the time. The Australian national delegation to the Madrid was given a lecture about how they were not to have sex with anyone at all during the Games, despite the fact that some members of the Australian delegation were married and were attending the Games with their married partners. If they were considering sex, they were told to first consult the team doctor. These types of discussions were less common than they were with other disability group types including wheelchair sportspeople.
Sportspeople with intellectual disabilities competed at the Winter Paralympics for the first time in 1992 in alpine skiing and cross country skiing. These were demonstration events. For the 1994 Winter Paralympics, biathlon was added as a demonstration sport. Athletes with intellectual disabilities have not competed at a Winter Paralympics since 1998.
The 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta were the first Paralympic Games where ID sportspeople had full medal events. The only available sports were athletics and swimming, with the events being the long jump and 200 m for athletics. 23 total sportsmen and sportswomen from 13 different countries participated. In swimming, the 50 m and 100 m freestyle events were the only ones on offer, with 33 swimmers from 10 countries participating.
At the 2000 Games in Sydney, 244 ID sportspeople participated in four sports: table tennis, athletics, ID basketball and swimming. Following a cheating scandal at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, people with intellectual disabilities had eligible classes removed from Paralympic sports in December of that year until changes were made to classification. Spanish ID basketball players had participated after being classified as ID players despite not meeting minimum eligibility requirements, which resulted in their medal being stripped from them. In January 2001, INAS was suspended as a member of the IPC. In December 2001, INAS suspension was lifted.
Going into the 2000 Summer Paralympics, the definition for this class was anyone with an IQ below 75 points.Williamson, D.C. "Sports classification persons with intellectual disabilities--a general proposal to demonstrate impact functionality."Palaestra Summer 2004: 26+. Academic OneFile. Web. 1 Aug. 2016. Following the Games in response to issues with who meets minimum disability requirements, INAS suggested an endorsed certification using the SIC-Q assessment tool for IQ testing as a way around potential manipulation. This was rejected by the IPC.
Restrictions related to intellectual disability classes were lifted, and these sportspeople were allowed to participate at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. The decision was made following a meeting of the IPC General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in November 2009. The first sport to re-include ID sportspeople was swimming, who put swimmers in the S14 class. Their first IPC sanctioned sporting event was in October 2009 at a European Championship in Iceland. Sports on the program for the London Games including swimming, athletics, and table tennis. Events on the London program for athletics included the long jump, shot put and 1,500 m. For swimming, it was the 200 m freestyle, 100 m breaststroke, and 100 m backstroke. 119 ID sportspeople participated in the 2012 Summer Paralympics.