Because of societal barriers, people with disabilities are at a greater risk of feeling socially isolated and excluded from the community, and children with disabilities are especially vulnerable.
But they are not helpless, and they have an important advocate in Dr. Nancy Spencer-Cavaliere.
"I tell people that I do research with people with disabilities, I don't do research about people with disabilities, and I think it's an important distinction because people with disabilities can speak for themselves, yet historically that's been one of the problems?they haven't had a voice in the issues that concern them," Spencer-Cavaliere says.
"I've found in my research that it's extremely important to listen to people with disabilities as opposed to making assumptions about what I think they need," she adds.
A new professor in the University of Alberta Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, Spencer-Cavaliere recently wrote her PhD thesis on the thoughts and feelings of children with disabilities, such as cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy.
She analyzed the children's perceptions of their own competence and feelings of inclusion in specialized environments (ones tailored specifically for people with disabilities, such as at activities organized by the Paralympic Sport Association), and felt in inclusive environments (ones meant for everyone, such as at a public school).
She found that the children who compared themselves to other children in the specialized environments had confidence in their own abilities, but that it was more difficult to feel competent and included in the inclusive environments.
"There has been a push to integrate children with disabilities with children without disabilities, but along with this has come less of an emphasis on the need for specialized environments," Spencer-Cavaliere says.
"My research results question these assumptions. What I learned from these children is that both specialized and integrated settings have value, but the ability to make choices is the most important thing, and if you don't have the opportunity to be with other children like you, that's limiting your choice," she says.
Some of the main obstacles that reduce the choices of people with disabilities are funding, public awareness and not having a voice, adds Spencer-Cavaliere, whose interest in the matter is personal, as well as academic.
Spencer-Cavaliere has two cousins with disabilities, one of whom, Danielle Peers, plays on the Canadian Paralympic wheelchair basketball team. Also, Spencer-Cavaliere's mother had muscular dystrophy and diabetes, before she passed away a few years ago.
"My personal life experience increased my awareness of the lack of supports we have in our society for people with disabilities, and it also made me realize the important role of being an advocate, because I know no one knew better than my mom what she needed, but she wasn't always in a position to advocate for herself," Spencer-Cavaliere says.
To advance her research, Spencer-Cavaliere will be applying to various funding sources at the U of A. In the past, she has received support from the Sport Science Association of Alberta and the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association She has also received funding through her supervisor from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Her next research project will be to examine the University of Alberta-developed Play Around the World program, which sends U of A students and professors to Thailand each year to engage in play and physical activity with children living in orphanages.
"My interest is in how we can best support children who are vulnerable?children who have a disability or who have been neglected or are somehow materially deprived?and find ways to encourage them to become active and healthy," she says.
"With the Play Around the World project, I'm interested in cross-cultural play, and I'll be looking at what kind of impact, the program is having on these children."