According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), vision impairment is a condition in which a person’s eyesight cannot be corrected to a “normal level.” Vision impairment is a functional limitation of the eye or eyes or the vision system, making some problems for the person. Some people think people with visual impairment cannot see anything, but this is not true. Vision impairment doesn’t mean blindness or not being able to see things.
There are different types of vision impairment that have different effects on people with visual impairment. These people may face some problems in their lives, but it doesn’t mean they cannot live their daily lives or cannot pursue their dreams. Some have the goal of doing some sports or being an athlete. Does it sound very strange or impossible? You are wrong!
Vision impairment and sports
People with vision impairment can make great athletes in sports like Goalball, Blind football, Blind Tennis, Crolf, Swimming, Polybat, Rowing, Mountaineering, Showdown, Shooting, Petanque, Torball, Blind Chess, Blind Cricket, Blind Soccer, Audio Dart, etc. If you look at the history of Paralympic, you can find great athletes like Carlos lopes (marathon athlete), Jefinho (football player), Li Liqing (judo athlete), with blindness or partially sighted people.
Vision impairment and sports’ benefits
Doing sport has thousands of benefits, and doing sport with vision impairment has the following advantages:
- Improving the motor skills with physical activities
- Improving the confidence because of increasing the skills and abilities
- Improving cardiovascular health
- Decreasing resting heart rate and blood pressure
- Decreasing the daily challenges of defeating the every-day challenges
- Helping to encourage the athletes’ integration in space and improving the balance
- Having positive impact on independency and autonomy
- Increasing the level of adequacy of adaptive behavior as well as the quality of life
- Increasing the orientation skills of the people with vision impairments
- Improving the communication skills among people with visual impairments
- Increasing the abilities for team work and interactions between peers
Vision impairment equipment
Each blind sport needs its own equipment. Blind football needs a ball which makes sound and the players find the place of the ball easily. The same situation is for goalball, basketball, volleyball, and the other similar games which need sound balls to make the game possible. The equipment like sound ball, soccer ball, Ble Flame Blind Football, Boccia Touch board, rainbow football ball, activity kit, blind sport glasses, blind tennis ball, Blindfold, Justa blind sports mask, and many other equipment are here to help the vision impairments sports lovers, follow they dreams.
How much are the blind sports equipment?
vision impairment and following the dreams
Many sports rely on sights, but it doesn’t mean vision impairment or blindness stops you from following your dreams if your dream is to become a sportsman or sportswoman. It’s easy to find information about the sport which you are interested in. Before doing any game, it is necessary to talk to your medical doctor and eye doctor to make sure that doing sport is not a risky job for your eye, because some games may affect some eye problems and make it worse. So, make sure that doing sport is fine for your eyes.
There are different sources like books, journals, documentaries, interviews, and lots of online sources on the Internet, which you can use. Or you can find some athletes with blindness or vision impairment, coaches, or trainers to talk and gather information about that particular sport. Take enough time to get familiar with the game and then try to find a great coach or trainer.
Whether you have a vision impairment or not, learning needs time, energy, and practicing hard. Remember that the key to succeeding in this way is to be patient. Have fun, and enjoy what you are doing!
