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Bankshot>Total Mix Not Spectrum - you are here
Total-Mix Not Spectrum
The Bankshot Conception of Universal Design
by Dr. Reeve Brenner
The accommodation philosophy of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) has unmistakably evolved to a formulation now known as the Spectrum Ideology: each person according to their abilities with accessibility accommodating that level. To put it in another way, the Spectrum concept posits that ADA requirements be such that each level of ability or disability will have activities suitable and accessible for them. This means that whatever an individual happens to be - whether in a wheelchair or otherwise, whether physically challenged in some way or not, whether old or young, there will be a certain level where they will be able to function in a particular sports activity or in recreation. A multiplicity or rainbow of activities will be offered and each individual, of every ability or disability, will find his or her own level or range of play and participation.
How does this concept stand up against the challenge to it which suggests that "this is status quo compartmentalization and merely another variation of separate but unequal?" The concept as is formulated in Spectrum once again results in separating out individuals at different levels of ability. The physically challenged and the differently-abled do not become integrated: there is no mainstreaming and, in point of fact, these diverse population sectors do not recreate together. The law, as well as the spirit of the ADA requires that we avoid reestablishing separate but unequal recreation and sports facilities which would be a consequence of this philosophical approach.
The answer can be summed up by suggesting that not Spectrum but Total-Mix, is the answer: inclusionary, that is, non-running sports activities which are dependent not upon strength or speed, size or age. In Total-Mix sports, players do not play against on another, they play alongside one another. And no one is excluded. the non-athletes do not sit at the sidelines. They are not spectators, they are participants.
By contrast, with Total-Mix sports, you find that coordination and practice, developmental skills and pre-figurative intelligence - rather than stature and stamina - determine athletic proficiency.
It is being suggested here that the professionals who develop activities and facilities, particularly ball fields, children's playgrounds, and swim centers - whether or not a modified spectrum of activities exists - must take cognizance of the need for "universal design which achieves Total-Mix" as in the newly created ball playing sports, Bankshot Basketball and Bankshot Tennis. These sports were conceived as Total-Mix sports based on Universal Design.
To see a letter from the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, click me.
To Merge Recreation and Accessibility, click me
To Learn about Total-Mix in action in Salisbury, NC, click me