Sports experiences of elite athletes with intellectual disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorders

• Published in: Sport in society Vol. 26; no. 5; pp. 854 - 868
• Main Authors: Duquesne, Valentine, Richard, Remi, Andrieu, Bernard, Joncheray, Helene
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 04.05.2023; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Subjects: Athletes; Autism; Disability sports; Elite athletes; Elites; face; History, Philosophy and Sociology of Sciences; Human, political & social sport sciences; Humanities and Social Sciences; impression management; Intellectual disabilities; intellectual disabilities (ID) and/or autism spectrum disorders (ASD); People with disabilities; Philosophy; Sport; Sports; Sports participation; stigma; Elite athletes; Intellectual Disabilities; Autism spectrum disorder ASD; Face; Stigma; Impression management
• ISSN: 1743-0437; 1743-0445
• DOI: 10.1080/17430437.2022.2070480

Few sociological surveys have focused on the experiences of elite athletes with intellectual disabilities (ID) and/or autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, more and more ID and/or ASD athletes are practicing elite sport. In this article, we seek to explore the mixed contacts of elite ID and/or ASD athletes with non-disabled people, resulting from their practicing both in sports contexts organized for disabled people (specific context) and non-disabled people (mainstream context). Fifteen semi-structured interviews and eight days of ethnographic observations were carried out with 7 elite table tennis players and 8 elite track-and-field athletes. The results analysis highlights the heterogeneity of the experiences - positive and negative - of elite ID and/or ASD athletes, both in specific and mainstream sports contexts. This heterogeneity of experiences invites favoring institutional arrangements that make the modalities of sport participation flexible for people with ID and/or ASD.