A Study of the Barriers to Participation of the Disabled, the Blind, and the Deaf in Public Sports in Arak City

The present paper aims to study the barriers to participation of the disabled, the blind, and the deaf in public sports in Arak city. The methodology used was descriptive field research. The statistical population included all the disabled (with physical-motor disabilities or mental retardation), the blind and the (non-athletic) deaf of Arak city. From among them, 60 people returned the questionnaires. The applied data-gathering instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire. The questionnaire was conducted after its validity and reliability (α= 0/90) was confirmed. Descriptive statistics, Friedman test, multivariate analysis of variance, and the LSD post hoc test were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the lack of quality in sports venues, daily issues, and the lack of sports information were the most important barriers to participation of the subjects in sport activities. Moreover, comparing the type of disability with the barriers to participation in sport activities revealed that there was a significant difference in the barriers due to the quality of sports venues, sports information, and sports injury among the three groups of disabled people. Moreover, there was a significant difference between the disabled and the deaf in terms of barriers related to the sports information, the disabled, and the blind in terms of barriers related to everyday problems, and the blind and the deaf in terms of barriers related to behavior problems. Taking the findings of the research into account, the authorities of sport organizations are recommended to take measures to eradicate the existing barriers to participation of the disabled, the blind, and the deaf in public sports.