Accessible Recreation Resources

These sites are organized in two groups. The first group, specific activities, presents sites that focus primarily on a type of recreation such as outdoor activities. The second group, informational sites, provides lots of information on a broad range of activities.

Access Outdoors is a resource site with information about programs, places, products, and services related to accessible outdoor recreation. The programs section can be sorted by activity, location (US, Canada, other international), or audience. It lists a wide variety of activities. Under audience, selections can be made based on disability, group (families, singles, couples, men/boys, women/girls), or age (1-5, 6-12, 12-17, 18-65, 65+). The program and product areas seem to provide the most information.

ActiveAmp.org is a resource site for an active lifestyle. It has a sports directory with links to organizations for various sports. Some of the sports listed are: golf, bowling, fishing, sailing, swimming, and sled hockey. It also has sections on amputee sports news, prosthetics & technology, toys & tools, children's resources, and more resources.

Disabled Sports USA offers nationwide sports rehabilitation programs. Activities include winter skiing, water sports, summer and winter competitions, fitness and special sports events. The site lists DS/USA Chapters by state. Has a list of equipment resources, schedule of events and sports programs.

Directory of Sports Organizations for Athletes with Disabilities was developed by the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. It lists contact information for organizations for the specific sports. Not all of the organizations have an Internet address listed.

Michigan State University Disability Sports Web Site was developed by the graduate students in the class Research on Sports for Athletes with Disabilities. The site provides information about disability sports. There is a list of organizations, sports, and competitions. Athlete eligibility & classification, events, playing area, rules, equipment and links are provided for each sport.

National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD) is a site that is loaded with information. Search their resource directories of organizations, accessible physical activity programs and facilities, adaptive equipment vendors, conferences and meetings, and references to journal articles, books, videos and more. The site also contains fact sheets, and annotated reference lists. NCPAD is part of the Department of Disability and Human Development in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Infinitec.org is well organized resource site with sections called live, learn, play, and work. The Play section has additional sections on Outdoor Recreation, Accessing Entertainment, Enabling Gardening, Adaptive Water Sports, Accessing Travel, Adaptive Sports, Getting There, Being There, and Shopping. Each section is well written with descriptions and links to more information including product sites.

Challenged Athletes Foundation is a charity that provides grants directly to athletes (from the grass roots level to the elite) with a physical disability. These grants help pay for training, equipment, and competition needs.