Boosting social inclusion of children with motor disabilities through the practice of Wheelchair slalom

Call reference number: EAC/A03/2016

Programme title: Erasmus+ Sport 2017

Project Number: 590433-EPP-1-2017-1-ES-SPO-SCP

Title of the Proposal: Boosting social inclusion of children with motor disabilities through the practice of Wheelchair slalom

Topic: The overall objective of W-Slalom is to increase the social inclusion of children with motor disabilities, age 6 to18, by promoting the Wheelchair Slalom sport as a way of enhancing their physical abilities and psychological benefits.W-Slalom contributes to the objective of this call as it seeks to use sports in tackling the problem of socialintegration of children and adolescents with motor disabilities, by raising their awareness and that of otherrelevant stakeholders (sporting bodies, families, physical education teachers, psychologists, physiotherapists)about Wheelchair Slalom. Slalom is designed to create artificial problems: turns, changes of direction, rampsetc., which require speed, coordination and technique to finish the set course as quickly as possible and with asfew mistakes as possible. Slalom is open to both manual and electric wheelchair users, it develops theirphysical potential and improves the use of their means of transport: the wheelchair. Both users of manual andmotor wheelchairs can practice it and the reported benefits are numerous, from improvement on their overallphysical abilities, mental state and social relations to improvement in moving around and managing theirwheelchairs in every-day situations.

The specific objectives of the proposed project are:
1. To develop a training and awareness raising programme to promote Wheelchair Slalom among sporting bodies and other relevant stakeholders working with the target group;
2. Piloting Wheelchair Slalom sport in schools and sport organisations in Spain, Austria, Croatia and Portugal.
3. To increase the evidence-base on how the practice of Wheelchair Slalom contributes to social inclusion of children and adolescents with motor disabilities;
The partnership is composed of 5 organizations covering Austria, Croatia, Italy, Portugal and Spain.