Communication, Sport and Disability

Sports are ubiquitous in American society, and given their prominence in the culture, it is easy to understand how most youth in the United States face pressure to participate in organized sports. Using ethnographic research conducted while attending practices, games, and social functions of power soccer - the first competitive team sport specifically designed for electric wheelchair users, now played in more than 30 countries - Jeffress builds a strong case that electric wheelchair users deserve more opportunity to play sports.

Michael S. Jeffress (Ph.D., Regent University) is a Lecturer in Communication Studies in the Department of Literary, Cultural and Communication Studies at The University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad. He has been involved in disability advocacy work since the mid-1990s, after his son Ryan was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In 2014, he received the Top Paper Award from the Disability Issues Caucus of the National Communication Association. His previous title in the Interdisciplinary Disability Studies series is Communication, Sport and Disability: The Case of Power Soccer.

Chapter 1 A Life-Altering Discovery; Chapter 2 Snapshots of Changed Lives; Chapter 3 From the Sidelines to Center Court; Chapter 4 Power Soccer and Physical Health; Chapter 5 Power Soccer and Psychosocial Health; Chapter 6 Power Soccer and Relating to People; Chapter 7 Power Soccer and Self-Efficacy Beliefs; Chapter 8 Generating Social Capital within Power Soccer; Chapter 9 Utilizing Social Capital to Promote the Cause; Chapter 10 What Power Soccer Athletes Want You to Know;