Coaching Athletes with Learning Disabilities

This chapter provides coaches with information on the different types of learning disabilities and how this could influence their coaching practice. Coaching athletes with a learning disability may be challenging due to the behaviour they may display. It is important that athletes with learning disabilities such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder have positive experiences of playing sport and thus continue sport participation. Visual perception refers to the ability of the eyes to gather information, interpret that information, and then translate it into visual attributes such as luminance, colour, motion, and depth. Language processing refers to an athlete’s ability to read, write, and spell. The common term for such language-processing disabilities is dyslexia. Athletes with fine motor skills may struggle in certain elements of sports such as basketball shooting, putting in golf, and volleying in tennis due to the movements required in these skills.