Disability Rights And Youth Sports

[DsMom04]

I live in Massachusetts.
My four - year - old son was diagnosed three years ago with left - sided hemiparesis, or weakness on the left side of his body. He receives physical and occupational therapy, and wears a small plastic insert inside his shoe. Other than that, he's your typical bright, active little boy.
My son is very excited about participating in a "Learn To Play" hockey clinic, which will begin in November. His therapist has given us the go - ahead, and his doctor is encouraging him to participate as well. However, I am wondering what our legal rights are when it comes to a child with a disability (albeit a relatively mild one) participating in a "typical" sports program. I do plan to let the coaches know a good few weeks ahead of time about my son's diagnosis. I will also be able to stay at the rink during practices in case they have any questions about my son's diagnosis. Is there anything else I need to know? Can they try to keep him out of the program based on his diagnosis? Thanks in advance.

[Seanscott]

My son was born with serious heart defects and has played Little League baseball for 7 years. Without going into all the details - he has had three open heart surgeries and four strokes.
I would make sure to ask the hockey league what kind of insurance they carry. Little League pays everything the parent cannot pay in the case of an injury. If you have $500 deductible, Little League pays the $500. If you have no insurance, Little League pays 100% of the bill.
I don't think they would try to keep him out of an instructional league unless they were worried about medical bills or THEIR liability. You may be asked to sign a waiver.
Good luck. I hope he has fun!

[GaAtty]

You should realize that legally you cannot maintain two opposing positions at the same time. Either he has a disability that needs particular accommodations, or he does not. Therefore, if you want assistance for his difficulty, it is best not to emphasize how "typical" he is.

I think your better position is that he is an individual with a disability which needs accommodations (under the Americans With Disabilities Act). The accommodations are supposed to "level the playing field", so that his disability has less effect on him. To me it seems clear that a very reasonable accommodation which would benefit him most is that he not be put in a team position which is demanding for his left side.

However, in order to get this reasonable accommodation, you need to make the coaches aware of the disability and clearly request the specific accommodation. If for some reason they think that they cannot provide this accommodation, then that raises new issues.

[DsMom04]

Thank you for your response.
I emphasize how "typical" he is because he truly is. When people meet him, they don't know that he has hemiparesis. However, I want his coaches to be aware of it. What I'm most concerned about is that someone will see his diagnosis on paper, jump to conclusions, and try to push my son out of the league.
The only accommodation my son may need is a little extra time to master skating skills. Since it's a developmental program and not competitive, I don't think it should be too much of a problem. I also don't expect his coach to provide him with extra instruction - I can take care of that myself.
OK, I'm starting to feel a lot better about out situation. Thanks so much!

[DsMom04]

Seanscott, sorry to hear about your son. My son also had a stroke, which caused his hemiparesis.
Everyone in the league, be it the "Learn To Play" or competitive league, is required to sign a waiver. I think that should help to keep my son in the league.
If you don't mind my asking, did you ever get any static from your son's league about his participation? If so, how did you handle it?

[Seanscott]

Hi DsMom - My son is a lot like yours - you have to be around him for awhile to notice that he's a little behind developmentally than others his age.

I was very open with the league officials and I told them to treat him just the same as the other kids. My son tires out a little quicker than the other players and may need to sit & rest for 5 minutes if he works too hard. They had absolutely no problem with that.

We have had no problems at all with league officials - we've had two problems with other "coaches" (in 7 years) who want the rules followed 100%. Usually the umpires or league president politely tell them that exceptions have been made and that's just the way it is.

In our local league everyone does everything they can to include all children who want to play. Hopefully you'll find yours is the same. Nobody ever tried to push him out of the league or hint that he didn't belong.

Hope it all works out well for you.