What is physical literacy?

I am not ashamed to say that I totally missed the boat on this one. At a conference in Ottawa in early February 2012, I learned all about physical literacy. Whereas I took for granted that all blind kids would have learned to do such things as: jump, run, jog, throw or roll a ball, swim, bike, climb, kick or bounce a ball, and similar activities, it was sadly not the case.

This conference focused on making sports a part of the daily lives of blind kids and blind adults. It talked about the need for sports to be more a part of the lives of the blind community and it focused on developing ways to do so.

After having returned home from this conference, I realized how lucky I was. As a blind kid I was totally physically literate and as an adult I have continued to stay physically literate. Ice skating is my passion and blind tennis is a close second. I swim, ski, and enjoy all kinds of outdoor sports.

My belief is that physical literacy is very important to us all and especially so to the blind community. We, more than others, may need to make sports a very important part of our lives and how can we do this? By insisting that we be included in sporting activities, from the nursery right up until we are seniors. So, what is physical literacy? It is the ability to interact with and be a part of all kinds of sporting activities.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and encourage parents of blind kids to foster more physical literacy to their youngsters. Visit me at www.sterlingcreations.ca to learn more.