The Level Of Comfort Coaches Have For Dealing With Children With Behavioral Disabilities

Studies have shown that children with behavioral disorders should be included in sports. This research looks at the comfort level coaches have with the idea of having children with behavioral disorders on their team. The research goes further into this question by looking at training as a possible option to increase the level of comfort. The study looks into the survey that was conducted and goes into further explanation as to how this affects youth sports. The discussion of the findings shows who is most affected by this research and what else can be examined. Document Type Undergraduate Project Professor's Name Katharine Burakowski Subject Categories Sports Management This undergraduate project is available at Fisher Digital Publications: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/sport_undergrad/64 The Level Of Comfort Coaches Have For Dealing With Children With Behavioral Disabilities Rebecca Campbell SPST 495 12/11/13 Sport Management Department St. John Fisher College Abstract Studies have shown that children with behavioral disorders should be included in sports. This research looks at the comfort level coaches have with the idea of having children with behavioral disorders on their team. The research goes further into this question by looking at training as a possible option to increase the level of comfort. The study looks into the survey that was conducted and goes into further explanation as to how this affects youth sports. The discussion of the findings shows who is most affected by this research and what else can be examined.Studies have shown that children with behavioral disorders should be included in sports. This research looks at the comfort level coaches have with the idea of having children with behavioral disorders on their team. The research goes further into this question by looking at training as a possible option to increase the level of comfort. The study looks into the survey that was conducted and goes into further explanation as to how this affects youth sports. The discussion of the findings shows who is most affected by this research and what else can be examined. Introduction Across the United States we see a large number of children who have a number of different disabilities. While every child is given the chance to play sports, some lack that opportunity because they have behavioral disorders, or “invisible disabilities”, these would be disabilities like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, that make it difficult for them to be coached by someone who doesn’t know how to teach them properly. It is not necessarily the child’s disability that prevents them from playing a sport; it is sometimes the coaching that prevents them. This is because many coaches of children’s sports teams are volunteers that aren’t trained to coach a child with a behavioral disorder. When a coach understands where every child is coming from and knows how to teach every child on their team works, then every child will truly have the chance to play sports. The only thing that will get this to happen is the coach’s attitude about the matter. This research will be conducted to find that with the proper training and education; coaches will be more comfortable in teaching kids who have these behavioral disabilities. The focus of this research is to see how coaches feel about having kids with behavioral disorders on their team. If they are for it, the research will see what kind of training they would like, if they want any at all. However, for the coaches that don’t want to have children with behavioral disorders on their team this research will find out why as well. This research will not only benefit the children with the behavioral disorders but it will also benefit the coaches of these teams. It will help show that children with or without a disability can successfully play on the