Inclusive Sports

Children with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (IDD) experience significant health disparities compared to those without IDD. Some studies suggest that there is an increased risk of developing certain conditions, such as obesity, as early as age 3. Although many chronic health conditions can be prevented through regular participation in physical activity, children with IDD are significantly less likely to meet the recommended levels of physical activity. This gap is often compounded by delays in gross motor development, which can lead to more sedentary pursuits rather than physically active play. Addressing these disparities requires intentional, inclusive programming that supports healthy growth and development of children with and without IDD, along with targeted educational efforts to prepare health and fitness professionals to design and deliver opportunities that are accessible to children of all abilities.

Building the Foundation for Lifelong Health

Early childhood is a critical period for establishing the foundation of lifelong health by forming healthy habits and routines. During the early years, children’s interactions with the social and physical environment support developmental outcomes, such as fundamental motor skill development. Fundamental motor skills include skills like running, throwing, and catching, and they serve as the building blocks for more complex movements, creating pathways to physically active play, socialization, and independence. Gross motor skill acquisition follows a progression of moving from observation to practice, refinement, and mastery, where children can confidently perform skills across a variety of environmental circumstances. There is strong evidence that children with greater motor proficiency are more physically active, resulting in physical, social, emotional, and cognitive benefits. Further, physical activity patterns tend to track over time as children transition to adolescence and adulthood, suggesting sustained effects of early physical activity behaviors.

Inclusive play sessions help children build healthy habits.

Access to Inclusive Opportunities

Participation in sport and other structured, recreational activities is associated with greater levels of physical activity among children and supports motor development. Yet, there are inequalities in access to such opportunities for those with IDD, particularly during the early childhood period. There is limited research on families’ experiences related to participation in inclusive sport and recreation activities during early childhood. Our work with young adults with IDD and parents, however, revealed considerable challenges to accessing opportunities. Results from three focus groups with 13 young adults with IDD revealed that a lack of social support and appropriate movement and instructional adaptations were significant barriers to participating in regular physical activity. One adult with IDD stated, “I had to explain to him [personal trainer] what I had, and I don’t like doing that at all…he didn’t know why I didn’t understand.” In separate focus groups, parents expressed the need for more year-round physical activity opportunities and emphasized the importance of physical activity for socialization. Both groups expressed that sport and other structured opportunities for those with IDD were a low priority in their community, and that most sport organizations or fitness centers lacked quality staff who were trained in inclusive practices. Identifying and reducing barriers to participation is a critical step to ensuring better access to sport, and there is also a need to improve the quantity and quality of inclusive opportunities.

Special Olympics Young Athletes

The Special Olympics Young Athletes program complements Special Olympics' existing efforts to support lifelong activity, extending meaningful opportunities to the youngest athletes. Young Athletes is an inclusive sport and play program that focuses on gross motor and social-emotional skill development through fun, adaptable activities that are appropriate for children’s developmental needs. The lessons are supported by a variety of resources, such as skill-specific videos and activity adaptation cards, and can be implemented in school, community, and home settings. Importantly, facilitators of Young Athletes are uniquely positioned to create an inclusive environment for all children, fostering a joy of movement, developing empathy, and supporting healthy growth and development.

Playing helps children develop gross motor skills and promotes social development.

Bridging the Opportunity and Training Gap

To bridge the gap in inclusive early childhood opportunities in our community and in response to the need for well-trained professionals, our team launched the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Young Athletes program in the summer of 2024. That year, we collaborated with UNO Campus Recreation to secure safe, appropriate facilities where we could serve up to 15 children per session. Later, we moved our program to UNO’s new Health Science Collaborative Adaptive Physical Activity Lab, which was more conducive to smaller groups of up to eight children per session, and we took this opportunity to create separate, age-specific programs to better meet children’s developmental needs. We aligned our program with the traditional Special Olympics Young Athletes Activity Guide, consisting of eight weeks of inclusive sport and play programming targeting a specific gross motor skill each week, and incorporated opportunities for children to lead warm-up and cool-down routines.

In 2025, we created two new initiatives to widen the reach of UNO Young Athletes: a Young Athletes Family Day of Play and the Wiggle and Grow program. The family day was designed to provide an inclusive opportunity for families to engage in active play during the winter and experience the joy of movement together. It included eight guided gross motor stations from the Young Athletes Activity Guide, an obstacle course to integrate all the movements, and an open gym for free play. Wiggle and Grow is a four-week inclusive play program for infants and toddlers ages 9 months to 2 years. Caregivers join their children in the play sessions and learn about the importance of early movement, how to adapt movements to meet their children’s developmental needs, and simple ways to encourage healthy, active play at home.

All UNO Young Athletes programs are led by kinesiology student interns who aspire to careers in fitness, occupational therapy, and other healthcare professions. With the support of Special Olympics Nebraska and other UNO departments, we have had incredible success with recruiting high school and college student volunteers with varying experiences working with children with IDD. In both years of the Young Athletes Family Day of Play, more than 25 college student volunteers from a variety of disciplines facilitated gross motor stations and play activities for participating families. Student interns take on additional responsibilities in lesson planning, communicating with families, and sharing educational resources. Both interns and volunteers receive focused training in behavior modification, adapting activities and instructional approaches, and coaching on providing tailored instruction to children who need additional support. When possible, they receive additional training from Special Olympics athletes who share their experiences in sport and offer insights to students about their roles as leaders in inclusive instruction.

Looking Toward a More Inclusive Future

As our team continues to expand the program, we are identifying new and meaningful ways to deepen our influence on young people. This year, we are partnering with UNO’s Speech-Language Pathology program, whose graduate students will collaborate with kinesiology student interns to provide an interdisciplinary perspective to the lesson plans and will work directly with children in our programs. We are integrating lessons from the Unified Young Readers guide to spark curiosity and foster conversations about inclusion, helping children learn to value and celebrate peers of all abilities. We are also developing an assessment tool to better understand the physical and social outcomes that children and their families achieve.

Inclusive opportunities for play and intentional movement instruction during early childhood offer immediate and long-term health and developmental benefits. Through the UNO Young Athletes programs, we offer these opportunities to local families while simultaneously addressing the need for well-trained professionals in health and fitness settings. Our students are learning transferable skills that prepare them to adapt environments and instruction to support children of all ages and abilities. In doing so, we are helping prepare the next generation of health and fitness professionals to reduce barriers, provide opportunities, and create inclusive spaces wherever they go.