1st Edition

The Experiences of Disabled People in Physical Education Reimagining Pedagogy through First-Person Accounts

Edited By Wesley J. Wilson, Justin A. Haegele Copyright 2025
170 Pages 12 Color & 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

170 Pages 12 Color & 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Bringing together a set of first-person accounts of physical education from the perspectives of disabled children and adults, this book puts disabled people’s voices in the foreground. The book provides a rich set of case study material that deepens our understanding of the experiences of disabled people and challenges students, researchers, and practitioners to reflect critically upon their... Read more

1. Case-Based Learning and the Physical Education of Disabled Students

Wesley J. Wilson, Paul H. Warner, and Justin A. Haegele

2. Our Methodology for Case-Based Learning and Strategies for Reader Engagement

Wesley J. Wilson, Paul H. Warner, and Justin A. Haegele

3. "I Loved Sports and Physical Activity, but I Hated Physical Education": Lindsay’s Story

Lindsay E. Ball

4. Titanium Strides: Conquering Able-Bodied Physical Education with a Prosthetic Leg

Jenna Fesemyer

5. The Search for a Medal

Paul Tandy

6. The Difference between Mainstream (Inclusive) and Adaptive (Self-Contained) Physical Education Classes

Mikayla Shea Heston

7. The Empty Promise of "You Can Do Anything"

Shaelyn West

8. Account of My PE Experiences

Maddy Mau

9. Too Loud and Sitting Out

Hollis Jennings

10. "It’s Not Really an Activity … That’s Just Having a Beach Ball"

Nora Booth

11. A Physical Education Story about Best Friends

Hollis Jennings and Nora Booth

12. The Physical Education Experience through the Eyes of a Teacher with a Disability

Chris Ahrens

13. An Interview about PE with Carson Jones

Carson Jones

14. Pushing Past Expectations

Angela West

15. Autism in the Locker Room

Tanner Williams

16. PE and Sports Are Awesome!

Matthew McGeary

17. Fitness with Fun and Friends

Grace Gourley

18. Sports as a Bridge to Success in Life

Thomas Greany

19. "I Realize How Utterly Absurd My PE Experience Was"

Chelsey Baker

20. Peer Tutors Are PE Friends

Savannah Love

21. "Forced Inclusion": Inclusion Looks Different for Everyone

Nora Cizik

22. Our Reflections and Concluding Thoughts

Justin A. Haegele and Wesley J. Wilson

Biography

Wesley J. Wilson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, USA. Wilson’s research interests focus on the storytelling of the lived experiences of physical education professionals and the disabled youth who receive such services. He has served as the director of Project ISAACC and codirector of Project REACH-SLP, two adapted physical education and speech-language pathology training grants. Wilson is also a codirector of Project CAPER and trains adapted physical activity doctoral scholars through an interuniversity partnership.

Justin A. Haegele is the Colgate Darden Endowed Professor as well as the Director of the Center for Movement, Health, and Disability in the Department of Human Movement Studies and Special Education at Old Dominion University, USA. Contextualized within the interdisciplinary field of adapted physical activity, his primary research interests center on exploring how disabled individuals experience physical activity participation, including within school-based physical education contexts. Haegele is the Director of Project CAPER and a codirector of the MAMC, two adapted physical activity training collaboratives. He is also the immediate past president of the North American Federation of Adapted Physical Activity and the editor-in-chief for the peer-reviewed publication Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly.