O-Ringen Magazine, nr 1 2024

ParaOrienteering means everyone can orienteer!
Contact ParaOrienteering
Would you or someone you
know like to take part in Para-I
in the summer?
Tina Eveborn
tina.eveborn@telia.com
073-740 06 92
Vill du prata ParaOrientering
med oss på SOFT?
Helena Hehlke
helena.hehlke@orientering.se,
070-204 83 12
Jenny Wegmüller
jenny.wegmuller@orientering.se
076-103 77 13
Tomas Yngström
tomas.yngstrom@orientering.se
070-381 00 07
A normal Inskolning (“Induction”) course to the left and the same course with a simplified map to the right
How can you make orienteering accessible for people
with different kinds of disability? This is something that
SOFT’s Para group is working on.
Last year was the debut of the Para-I class at
O-Ringen and the class will return this year. It is
a class for competitors with an intellectual disability,
which means they may find it difficult to
understand, learn things and be independent.
People with intellectual disabilities often have
other conditions as well, for example epilepsy,
heart problems, autism or hearing and visual
problems.
Simplified map
At O-Ringen this summer, the Para-I class will once
again use the Inskolning (“Induction”) courses, which
not only have an appropriate difficulty level but also feature
the happy and sad faces, which work as a visual support. O-Ringen
2015 in Borås produced a lot of visual support material. One way
to simplify the orienteering is to take away unnecessary detail
from the map, making the map easier to read and interpret. See
the example from Stage 3 of O-Ringen 2023, Åre.
Photo: Linnéa Börjars
Multiple benefits
The great thing about simplifying the map this way is that people
with visual impairments can also benefit from using the same map.
However, the maps need to be enlarged to the degree required
by the competitor. The solution is to enlarge a couple of legs at a
time and have several maps to use during the race. A guide can be
useful to help visually impaired competitors with tougher terrain.
So far, this group does not have their own class but competes on
whichever Open course suits their abilities. Last year, Jan Thorin
was the only competitor and the first person to compete at O-Ringen
with a severe visual impairment. He has around 2% vision in
one eye and describes his vision as like swimming in murky water.
He used 7-9 maps (A4 and A3) for each stage, depending on the
length of the course and how the controls were positioned. We
hope that more people with visual impairments will try orienteering
at this summer’s big orienteering adventure.
Practice makes perfect
One or two people who took part in last summer’s Para-I class at
O-Ringen continued orienteering into the autumn at events with
Induction level courses. Here, they didn’t think there was any need
to simplify the map and competed using the same map as others.
The same was true for Janne with the visual impairment, who
continued orienteering in Värmland throughout the autumn.
Trickier courses and smaller maps were no problem as he learned
more and more.
ParaOrienteering
On SOFT’s website orientering.se/utova-och-folj/borja-orientera/
paraorientering you can find information and pictures of different
activities for those who would like to find out more about ParaOrienteering.
There is also a folder for printing and instructions for
how to include ParaOrienteering at competitions. We hope that in
future, clubs open up the possibility for more people to take part in
our wonderful sport. Some small adaptations can make a big difference
and many event organisers already have the skills to simplify
maps, if needed.
MED BÄR FRÅN
VÄRMLÄNDSKA
OCH NORRLÄNDSKA
SKOGARNA.
62 O-RINGEN MAGAZINE NO. 1 • 2024