The Times examines the growing trend of students with disabilities seeking the right to compete against able-bodied athletes in school sports. Some school districts are doing their best to accommodate these students while others have chosen a more confrontational stance. The fact that kids with disabilities are pursuing athletics is a hugely encouraging sign for an old gimp like me. It tells me that most kids with disabilities now take it for granted that they will be included in the classroom. Now, they want access to the rest of the school experience. School districts will always struggle to balance inclusion and fairness (especially as prosthetics and implants inevitably improve), but the kids who watched Oscar Pistorius compete in the London Olympics aren’t going to settle for watching from the sidelines.
