There are several obstacles obstructing individuals with disabilities from participating in community-related activities that promote a healthy lifestyle. Often, there are multiple barriers that make it difficult to access fitness-related services in their communities. According to the CDC here are the seven most common barriers:

• Attitudinal
• Communication
• Physical
• Policy
• Programmatic
• Social
• Transportation

Attitudinal

Although society’s understanding of disability is improving, stereotypes and stigmas surrounding a person’s functional needs are still common barriers that can limit a person with a disability from participating in everyday life and common daily activities:

• Stereotyping: Assumptions regarding a person’s quality of life due to an impairment, typically assuming they are unhealthy or incapable of performing exercises
• Stigma, prejudice, discrimination: Less common, though the CDC does state that some people may see disability as a personal tragedy, something that needs to be cured or prevented, or punishment for wrongdoing

Communication

Communication barriers—hindrances that affect hearing, speaking, reading, writing and/or understanding—include:

• Messaging that is only available in written format that prevents people with vision impairments from receiving the message
• Auditory messages that may not be well received by people with hearing impairments
• The use of technical language, long sentences, and words with many syllables that may obstruct communication for people with cognitive impairments

Physical Barriers

Structural obstacles in natural or manmade environments that prevent or block mobility to individuals with limited mobility. Examples include:

• Curbs and steps that block a person from entering a building or using public sidewalks
• Lack of adaptive equipment in facilities that accommodates wheelchairs or others who have difficulty standing

Policy Barriers

Policy barriers tend to derive from a lack of awareness of existing laws that require programs and activities to be accessible to people with disabilities. Examples include denying individuals with opportunities to participate in federally funded programs and denying reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals so they can perform essential job functions for which they have been hired to perform.

Programmatic Barriers

Programmatic barriers limit the delivery of public health for people with impairments, such as: inconvenient scheduling, lack of accessible equipment, lack of communication, and attitude’s and understanding towards people with disabilities.

Social Barriers

“Social barriers are related to the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, learn, work and age – or social determinants of health – that can contribute to decreased functioning among people with disabilities.” — CDC

• People with disabilities are less likely to be employed
• People with disabilities are less likely to have completed high school
• People with disabilities are more likely to have income less than $15,000 per year
• Children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to experience violence

Transportation Barriers

An estimated 25.5 million Americans (approximately 8.5% of the population age 5 and older according to a 2017 study) have disabilities that make traveling outside the home difficult. Lack of transportation directly impacts a person’s ability to participate in athletic activities. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, travel patterns of American adults with disabilities is significantly less than American adults without disabilities (bts.gov):

Trip Frequency

• Regardless of age, people with disabilities make fewer trips per day on average than people without disabilities. The daily trip rates for people with disabilities and without disabilities has declined over time.
• Workers with disabilities age 18 to 64 make fewer trips compared for workers without disabilities. This pattern is consistent for non-workers with disabilities compared to non-workers without disabilities.
• 7 out of 10 respondents with disabilities reduce their day-to-day travel because of their disabilities.

Mode Share

• Regardless of age, people with disabilities travel by personal vehicles—as drivers or as passengers—for a smaller share of trips than people without disabilities.
• People with disabilities age 18 to 64 travel as passengers for a greater share of personal vehicle trips.