PTs screen Special Olympics athletes at World Winter Games

Physical Therapy, June, 2009

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About 64 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and PT students screened more than 2,000 Special Olympics athletes in FUN fitness, the fitness screening program developed in collaboration with APTA as a part of Special Olympics Healthy Athletes, during the Special Olympics Winter World Games in Boise, Idaho. The athletes represented more than 100 countries and participated in seven winter sports events, including skiing, snowboarding, skating, snowshoeing, and floor hockey.

Participating in the screening were physical therapists from Belize, Greece, Macau, Paraguay, Poland, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, and the United States, who were trained as FUNfitness clinical directors in their countries. Among the US screeners were AFTA members Donna B Bainbridge, PT, FAD, ATC, Special Olympics global advisor for FUNfitness & Fitness Programming, Colleen Langlais, PT, MS, and Heidi Adamski, PT, MS.

The purpose of FUN fitness is to assess needs in flexibility, functional strength, balance, and aerobic capacity; to teach exercises that improve areas of need; to educate athletes, families and coaches about the importance of fitness; and to provide a hands-on opportunity to learn how physical therapists can help with fitness.

A special highlight of the games was a visit to the FUNfitness site by Vice President Joseph Biden. He observed athletes being screened and talked with physical therapists about the value of physical fitness for people with disabilities. During the visit, Biden held a press conference to introduce Kareem Dale as special assistant to the president on disability policy, and to highlight the need for greater attention to the health and civil rights of persons with disability.

"The commitment that the president and I have to Special Olympics and people with disabilities is deep and abiding," Biden said. "And we are backing up those words with real action at the White House. This is our first step to ensure that we have a strong advocate for people with disabilities at the highest levels of our administration."