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02 January 2024 Tuesday
 The Importance of Swimming for Disabled Individuals
Bilge Abay, a student of Exercise and Sports Sciences for the Disabled at Istanbul Gelişim University's School of Physical Education and Sports, had a special interview with Dr Duran Arslan.
  • Hello Professor Duran, can you introduce yourself first?
 
  • Hello, my name is Dr. Duran Arslan. I provide swimming training to individuals with special needs. I have been working with disabled children for approximately 22 years. Among these, I work with physically disabled, visually impaired, and special needs children with autism, Down syndrome, and mental retardation. I worked at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality for approximately 18 years. I am currently continuing my work at the Ministry of Sports.
 
 
  • Was there a situation that pushed you to work with disabled people?
 
  • Since there was a disability in my family, I wanted to do a study on disabled people. I met with my teacher at the university. I met with a few physiotherapist friends at Çapa Medical Faculty. Afterward, we could not find any resources from them. I went to Marmara University and many universities and researched resources on swimming for disabled people, and I gave importance to this field because of the need in this field.
 
  • Sir, the Department of Exercise and Sports Science for Disabled People was opened at Istanbul Gelişim University. What are your opinions on this subject?
 
  • There is no serious study in this field at universities. During my time, many universities did not have a department for disabled people. As far as I know, in the first place, a department for disabled people was opened in Malatya. Afterward, Gelişim University pioneered this field and has done very good work. I think having these studies would be good for those children. I think that Gelişim University will lead with this work and this field will become more widespread in private universities.
 
  • You have rehabilitated many disabled individuals from past to present and brought many athletes to our country. From what characteristics do you understand that an athlete can be a national athlete? How do you choose?
 
  • This depends a bit on the athlete, of course, when we take the child in, we first take him in for rehabilitation purposes. If he has a physical disability, we carry out activities to improve his motor skills and hand-foot coordination. Then, at the end of these rehabilitation processes, if the person has talent and if the child is suitable for this sport as an anthropomedicine, we train him professionally. An elite-level athlete must not only be physically competent but also mentally competent. The primary factor here is that the child must be physically and mentally competent, and in other cases, the family and the school must support the child.
 
  • What is the advantage that swimming brings to disabled individuals compared to other sports branches?
 
  • The biggest difference between swimming and other sports is that almost all disability groups can benefit from it. If the person has nothing to do with water, some people may be allergic to chlorine. Apart from these, I think it is a good agent for all disabled people, both in their rehabilitation processes and in terms of their entry into social life. The fact that a person's cardiovascular system is developed in water, motor skills and coordination are developed, and it requires discipline, contributes greatly to the rehabilitation activities of these disabled people. We cannot take in children who harm themselves or their environment in the first place. First, we rehabilitate them outside and check them for a while, then we take them into the pool and continue their work.
 
 
 
  • What are the contributions of swimming to your athletes' social life?
  • The contributions of swimming sports are as follows: The majority of physically disabled, visually impaired, or special needs children with autism and Down syndrome cannot go out on the streets in Turkey due to their physical disabilities. Educational opportunities have been greatly disrupted. Many of them are not admitted to school or have problems when they go to school. The fact that these children enter school life with healthy individuals, whom we call normal, enables them to enter social life and hold on to life. It helps them contribute to the development of their communication skills in both education and business life. They see that children can at least succeed as individuals when sports are done individually, both in groups and when they participate in competitions. It is ensured that he/she moves with the group. These children work with the group.
 
  • Do you like the work our country does for disabled people? And do you find it sufficient?
 
  • I think there have been good studies on accessibility in our country in recent years. In terms of accessibility of schools, both at the transportation point and in the field of education the facilities, it is good in terms of accessibility that the ramps are at the entrance of the schools, that is, they are suitable for wheelchairs and other disabled children. But I think it is very lacking in the field of education.
 
  • You are the first person to have a doctorate in this field. There are studies that we have contributed to our country. Can you give examples of these studies?
 
  • We were contributing to the sports lives of these children by providing training both in the hydrotherapy pool in the hall and in the normal pool. Afterwards, my teacher Taner chose the university and I continued these studies at the Ministry of Sports. It was a nice work. We can say that these studies have started little by little in many provinces.
 
  • What advice do you have for students studying Exercise and Sports Science for the Disabled? Even our friends studying in other departments will also see this interview. What are your recommendations and suggestions for coaches who want to work with disabled people?
 
  • Now, I have this suggestion for students studying at university. When it comes to swimming training for disabled people, when you look for resources, you will not find any resources. You will find a few resources. It is very difficult to find resources on how to teach swimming to someone with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, or spinal cord injury, or how to get them to do performance sports. My advice to everyone is that they choose a field or a disability group. For example, you will do cerebral palsy swimming training. You need to improve yourself in this field while you are a student at university. I recommend that you find a suitable place in this area and take children in this disability group and learn by experience.


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