This Wednesday, I presented at a Children 1st event: ‘A Conversation about Children’s Human Right’s in Sport.’
If you are unfamiliar with Children 1st, they are Scotland’s National Children’s Charity. Their ambition is for “every child in Scotland to be safe, loved and well with their family.” This event, in particular, was focusing on their involvement in Child Wellbeing and Protection in Sport (CWPS) and their partnership with SportScotland.
My talk was on my experiences of sport as an autistic, young person; and how this relates to my rights from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). I was invited to the event through my involvement on the Scottish Disability Sport Young Person’s Sports Panel.
Leading up to my presentation, I was definitely nervous. Knowing I was going to be presenting in front of such a large group for the first time was enough to get my heart racing. Never mind the fact that it was 150 people from Scottish sport’ governing bodies, from all across the country – many of whom are experts in the area of CWPS.
It went amazingly well though, and a lot of the people at the event gave me positive feedback. So, I wanted to share my talk here, on my blog.
“My experience of PE was pretty poor. Especially in high school, when I began to struggle and was going through the process of an ASD diagnosis, PE class was not accessible to me. Because I don’t have a physical disability, I don’t think it was always obvious why I found it hard to take part in PE – but the barriers were there. PE teachers tended not to go to the lengths other teachers did to make lessons more accessible for me, because I’m not sure they always knew how. Adaptations I had in other classes – such as wearing headphones, sitting by myself, and having a time-out – were never replicated.
When it came to choosing my exam subjects, I wanted to take National 5 PE but was discouraged after my teacher made comments on my attendance and participation (bear in mind, I was struggling with my mental health due to being undiagnosed at the time). As someone who was playing football at an elite level at the time – I was in the national performance team a year early and I was accepted into the local Sports Academy – this was devastating. No child should be made to feel excluded from sport.
The rights that were infringed by my negative experiences of sport were:
I have the right to be free from any discrimination (Article 2)
I have the right to an education (Article 28)
My education should develop my interests and talents (Article 29)
I have the right to play (Article 31)
There are a couple of things my PE teachers could’ve done to make lessons more accessible to me. They could’ve explained in advance what we would be doing, as I always found PE unpredictable and chaotic. They should’ve understood that when I refused to do something it wasn’t because I didn’t want to – it was that I had so much anxiety around it that I couldn’t. And finally, a recognition that I needed things explained to me clearly, on a 1-1 basis, would’ve helped to understand what was expected of me and made it easier for me to get involved.
My top tip for teachers would be to assume that we, disabled young people, CAN and WANT to be involved. You know how good of an impact sport has on children’s physical and mental health – and this is the same, if not more important, for those of us with disabilities.
When I started playing autism football, it reignited my love for the game. At the time I was playing at an elite level, but I couldn’t cope with the pressure and stress of training and the social aspect. My involvement in disability sport allowed me to play with confidence and I felt free to be myself. It was also one of the first times after my diagnosis that I met other autistic people like me.
The moment that really summed it all up for me was when my team was knocked out of the autism Scottish Cup. Because of my autism, I experience big emotions, and I started to cry. At my mainstream team, people would’ve made comments about me being “overdramatic” or “a cry-baby.” But in my autism team, I looked around and saw that my teammates were also upset. It was one of the first times I felt like I belonged, and I didn’t have to explain myself to anybody.
About 5 months ago, I was accepted onto the Scottish Disability Sport Young Person’s Sports Panel. I have been really enjoying it so far and I’ve gotten so much out of it already. I feel like my opinions are valued and listened to; I have gained skills through all the experiences offered to me that I can take into the future; gathering knowledge on subjects relevant to me allows me to feel empowered and gives me the confidence to be an advocate for my disability; and there have been many chances to collaborate with other young people and make friends with people who have similar interests and experiences.
The rights that my involvement in disability sport, and my experience on the young person’s panel have strengthened are:
I have the right to share my experiences, opinions and ideas and be taken seriously and involved in decisions that affect me (Article 12)
I have the right to express myself (Article 13)
I have the right to my own thoughts (Article 14)
I have the right to meet up with friends and join groups (Article 15)
To end my talk, I presented the audience with the following question: “What are some things you/your organisation could do to improve physical and social access to sport for disabled children and young people?” This got some good, yet challenging, conversations up and running.
I hope that people managed to take some learning away from my presentation, and I believe that my openness and honesty about my own lived experience, allowed for people to truly understand the need for children’s rights to be recognised in sport.
I am autistic 