Tallow loves wheelchair basketball, but for some children with a disability, expensive equipment, inaccessible venues and anxiety about participation mean they drop out of sport.
Tallow Ra's obsession with wheelchair basketball runs deep; it's all he can talk about.The 12-year-old plays for the Hills Hornets in Sydney, after being introduced to the sport two years ago."It's the whole community, meeting new friends and getting to know people who are like you."Allianz surveyed 189 parents of children with disabilities, and found half of them drop out of school sport before the age of 11.
One in five Australians live with disability, with an estimated 24 per cent of them participating in sport at least once a week. Hewson, who won gold with the Australian men's wheelchair basketball team at the 1996 Paralympics, says expensive equipment is a big thing, especially if you have children wanting to compete in multiple wheelchair sports requiring different types of chairs.
Disabled children can become more aware of their impairments as they enter their teen years, which can lead to some children feeling anxious about participating in sport alongside non-disabled peers."As a child, I wasn't quite aware of how different I was because of my disability," she said. "We probably need to focus on finding those heroes, so kids can get in there, have fun, and try and achieve."
Wheelchair Disability Disabled Paralympics Para Sport Gerry Hewson Rae Anderson
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