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Athletic training students with disabilities: a survey of entry-level education programs
1Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA. newshamk@uindy.educ
Context:
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 created and expanded protection for people with disabilities.
Objective:
To identify the proportion of students with disabilities enrolled in entry-level athletic training education programs (ATEPs), to examine the nature of the disabilities reported by these students, and to assess the number of ATEPs with policies (beyond technical standards) for admitting students with disabilities.
Design:
I distributed a survey via e-mail and the US Postal Service. The survey instrument was adapted from a tool used in similar research on medical education programs.
Setting:
Entry-level ATEPs.
Patients Or Other Participants:
The survey was distributed to program directors at 292 Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Program-accredited entry-level ATEPs.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Using frequency analysis, I determined the rate at which students with disabilities enrolled in entry-level ATEPs and the types of disabilities represented. Disabilities represented in the study were related to learning, auditory, visual, emotional, orthopaedic, mobility, and motor skill impairments.
Results:
Of the 283 surveys delivered, 105 (37%) were completed and returned. A total of 70% of respondents reported enrollment of students with disabilities in their ATEPs. The number of students with disabilities in entry-level ATEPs increased during the 4-year period of this study, and the proportion of students with disabilities has also increased annually (from 1.8% to 2.6%). The most common type of impairment was a learning disability, accounting for more than 80% of all disabilities reported. Fewer than 10% of the ATEPs had a specific enrollment policy for students with disabilities.
Conclusions:
The number of students with disabilities in entry-level ATEPs is increasing, yet this figure is well below the 9% reported for the general student population. Most institutions rely on technical standards or student disability officers to determine if a student with a disability is otherwise qualified for selection into the ATEP.
