SPORT AND LEISURE POLICIES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Abstract

Brazilian studies about policies for sport and leisure are incipient, especially those addressing people with disabilities. The subject is complex and although this study approaches the specific context of a municipality in the state of São Paulo, it sought to provide an expanded view on the constitution of sports programs and other public policies by understanding the organization (polity), internal disputes (politics), the resulting guidelines (policy), and the actors that make up the network (policy network). Mapping and interviews with managers and professionals found three programs and five sports adapted to people with disabilities. Even without coordinated inter-sector policies and with relationships among actors being predominantly informal so far, the emergence of demand, social organization, and sensitivity of competent agencies to coordinate conditions, institutions and people capable of facing the issue were the key points for developing the actions.