New advances power change in adaptive sports

Advances in prosthetics and adaptive equipment have not only helped level the playing field for disabled athletes but also may give them a competitive edge.

Abu Yilla, clinical assistant professor in kinesiology and a former Paralympic medalist, has studied the evolution of disability sports and made it the topic of a lecture delivered at TEDxUTA, a University version of TED Talks.

He points to a need for “valorization,” or making sure athletes are actually doing the same physical action, biomechanically, in assessing a competition.

Dr. Yilla is excited by new advancements in wheelchairs and prosthetics and believes these technologies will bring a new age of very different sports.

“I suggest that, technologically, we’re going to see the most extreme and best sporting events coming out of the disabled and Paralympic sporting world (transhumanism sport),” he says. “If we adopt valorization, if we start looking at things for the physical work they involve, the sky’s the limit.”

Watch a video of Dr. Yilla's TEDxUTA talk, or visit tedxuta.com to learn more.