Deaf Sports Essay

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Athletics for the deaf
Sports within the deaf community promote social interaction and athletic competition among profoundly hard of hearing and deaf individuals. There are many ways that a deaf athlete can overcome their hearing loss and compete in sports, but some coaches and teammates may discriminate against these athletes. However there are some some sports that are more deaf friendly than others. There is now a large history of sports associated with deaf culture, since the football huddle was invented in 1894 at Gallaudet. Today there are deaf sports organizations at various levels including state, regional, national, and international. A person's ability to hear does not have any influence on their ability to swim, run, play tennis, …show more content…

Members of the deaf community can participate in just about every sport out there today. In order to help deaf people participate and enjoy sports, national deaf sports organizations such as UK Deaf Sports, were created to provide information and support to deaf people as well as to organize competitions. Many of these sport organizations were established only in the 1990s or later. Once a few organizations were established many others followed and now deaf athletes can choose between more deaf sports than ever before. When a deaf athlete participates in a team sport the main issue is the athlete’s ability to communicate with their teammates, opponents, the coach, and the referee. Wearing a helmet with a hearing aid or implant processor is an option, but even with a helmet on it is difficult to protect processors and implants. Although it is possible, athletes may need to adapt to their headgear or …show more content…

This South African swimmer has proved that deafness cannot stop him from reaching his dreams. In 1999 Terence Parkin had won a bronze at the Pan Pacific Championships. In 2000, Parkin’s competed in the Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the 200 meter breaststroke. In the same year he also won two silver medals at the FINA Short Course Swimming World Championships. Then at the Goodwill Games in 2001 he won a gold medal. In the 2002 Commonwealth games Terence had won a silver medal and also a gold and another silver at the FINA Swimming World Championships. Over the course of his athletic career Terence Parkin has proved that nothing will stop him from achieving what he sets his mind

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