Currently, there’s nothing out there in terms of adapted Adventure Sports clothing to suit people with disabilities, and wearing the right gear is essential when taking part in any sport, as Suzi found out when she went canoeing! But what if you can’t put on the required clothing because it’s too tight or the zips are too small to grab hold of?
When I realised, a few months ago, that Adventure Sports clothing was an area we couldn’t miss I went onto Google, expecting to find that somebody else was already doing it and doing a good job of it. What I found wasn’t what I expected. A Google search for ‘adapted sports clothing’ came up with nothing that matched my search term. Everything I could find was for everyday wear, which is shocking considering that there are plenty of people with disabilities around the UK who take part in sports. Surely if people find adapted everyday wear useful, there’s bound to be adapted Adventure Sports clothing too, right? Apparently not.
What I did find in my search, however, I didn’t like. It all looked...well, medical and for older people. While I don’t contest that older people need adapted clothing to suit their needs, I ask one question: What about fashion? Why can’t people with disabilities wear clothes that are adapted to suit their needs but that also look nice? This is what is important to iDID. Not only do we want to adapt Adventure Sports clothing to make it more accessible, but we want to make sure that every item of clothing we adapt is done in such a way that it actually looks good, and doesn’t leave the person wearing it sticking out like a sore thumb and feeling embarrassed because they have to wear ‘different’ clothing.
How can you adapt clothing for these types of sport, you might ask. The answer: in a number of ways. For example, for someone with my degree of Cerebral Palsy I need bigger zips, or zips on the front of wetsuits rather than the back, to give two examples. Between the team we’ve tried a wide range of activities first-hand, including Rock Climbing, Skiing and Canoeing, and have realised what some of the issues are. That’s how we know that these adaptations, among others, are essential to full participation in Adventure Sports for people with disabilities.
Wider society is beginning to recognise the need for these types of adapted products and we are identifying a gap in the market for this clothing. This is why Live UnLtd have invested a substantial amount of money into our clothing project. We want to get it right, though, and will be running focus groups to develop our items of Adventure Sports clothing, so if you are interested in taking part in these or any of our research please get in touch!!
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