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Adaptive kayaking for persons with physical disabilities

Tiffany Atkinson, BS

Abstract


Kayaking is a fun outdoor recreational activity well known by many. Often times, people assume that kayaking is too dangerous and risky for individuals with disabilities to participate. Kayaking can be adapted either through adaptation of the actual kayak, paddle, and/or assistive devices to allow various individuals to partake. With shared enjoyment of kayaking, apparent differences between participants become insignificant. Adaptive kayaking is rarely considered as a useful therapeutic intervention to be used by recreational therapist, but upon involvement can produce benefits such as increased selfesteem, increased upper body strength, learned adjustment to new situations, increased independence, and many more. This article will address the benefits, barriers, and future research of adaptive kayaking.

Keywords


adaptive kayaking, recreational therapy, therapeutic recreation, physical disabilities

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5055/ajrt.2010.0009

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