Brief A

Inclusive products to support the Motor Activities Training Programme (MATP), Special Olympics training sessions.

Background

MATP. (Angela Lydon, MATP National Manager, Special Olympics).

MATP is a sports programme for people with profound and multiple learning and physical disabilities and complex support needs. Their task may appear comparatively small to performances in the Paralympics or Olympics, but due to the complexity of their impairment the tasks require as much effort, determination, and dedication to practice as for any athlete.  

MATP athletes may have complex physical disabilities causing them to have very limited movement, high and/or fluctuating muscle tone, muscle weakness and stiff joints. There are often a range of conditions associated with these complex physical disabilities including visual impairment, hearing impairment, unsafe swallow leading to being fed through a gastrostomy, epilepsy, dystonia, poor circulation and limited communication skills.

MATP athletes with complex physical disabilities may also have complex intellectual disabilities but not always. Athletes with profound intellectual disabilities may have not yet developed early play skills such as an understanding of cause and effect, understanding they can have an impact on their environment or an understanding of object permanence (the concept of an object continuing to exist if it cannot be seen). MATP can be a great way of teaching these skills.

MATP athletes may be neurodivergent with complex high support needs. These athletes may be non-speaking, struggle with interactions and social communication, have sensory processing difficulties meaning they experience over or under stimulation one or all of their senses, including balance and coordination. Athletes may find any pressure or demand of them very difficult and a ‘continuous provision’ approach to PE.

Need

Inclusive sports products and associated activities that:

  1. Enable a Special Olympics Athlete to achieve their goals and have evidence of their achievement, e.g. pushing something through a distance, hitting a target and sensing the outcome, which may be up to 3 minutes for the SO athlete to cognitively process and sense a skittle falling over, for example.
  2. Keep the activity within physical and sensory range. This may be within a field of view, sound, haptics, and physical limb lengths, e.g. arm length.
  3. Easily reset for another attempt.
  4. Monitor performance in a way accessible to the athlete.

Brief A – links