A research day was held on Wednesday, 22 May, to mark the start of the Special Olympics NRW state games. The event, which was jointly organized by the Department of Education and Culture in Sport (Prof. Dr. Helga Leineweber) and the Department of Sport Psychology (Dr. Lena Henning) in cooperation with the Willibald Gebhardt Institute, aimed to bring together different stakeholders in the field of sport for people with intellectual or multiple disabilities. Scientists and students from Leipzig, Münster, Stuttgart and Graz not only gave presentations on current teaching concepts and research findings, but also discussed practical implications and further research and development needs with representatives from Special Olympics Germany and some state associations as well as athletes, coaches and supervisors. The event was supported by Unfallkasse NRW.
The keynote speech was given by Prof. Heike Tiemann (University of Leipzig). Heike Tiemann (University of Leipzig) spoke about selected lines of development and controversies that need to be critically examined with regard to the scientific discourse.
The research day was rounded off with an open dialog, moderated by Dr. Anne Rischke (DSHS Cologne; member of the executive committee of SO NRW), with athletes from the Bayer Uerdingen Special Olympics handball team with their coach Thomas Floethe, athlete Yannik Wingert and unified partner Sabrina Hendriks, as well as SO's long-standing coordinator in the field of equestrian sports, Uta Deutschländer. Here we were able to discuss the questions raised during the day and gain further exciting insights into everyday practice.
We would like to thank everyone for the exciting exchange and stimulating discussions.