Pedal Project Beyond Vision: Adapted cycling as a citizen practice

Abstract

The extension project "Pedal Beyond Vision" aims to: the integration of the University of the State of Mato Grosso and the community, as well as the construction of autonomy, social protagonism and the apprehension/development of the psychomotor movement of Persons with Disabilities (PCD) through adapted cycling. Another relevant aspect of this project is to enhance cooperation, mediation, and mutual training among all project participants. That is, visually impaired people (the guideds) and non-visually impaired people, the guide athletes. This project addresses social education intertwined with special education/social inclusion, which are worked through the pedagogical practice of teaching cycling adapted to people with visual impairment, in the municipality of Cuiabá-MT. The partnership took place between teachers from the State University of Mato Grosso-UNEMAT and elementary school teachers, belonging to the municipal education network of Cuiabá-MT. This project will take place in non-conventional training spaces (municipal parks in Cuiabá, which have adequate bike paths). The subjects participating in this project are visually impaired people, basic education teachers, UNEMAT teachers and the external community in general.  This mediating and cooperative action between the university and the basic education professionals of Cuiabá, provides a new space and new experiences, resulting from the sports practice of adapted cycling, with the purpose of working on the culture of inclusion, the protagonism of the visually impaired, the recognition and overcoming of multiple barriers. The results achieved so far are: adherence of visually impaired people; considerable increase in the number of athlete guides and interaction with the community, especially in the traffic in Cuiabá. Since at first it caused some strangeness. With the development of street activities, to a certain extent, it starts to count on the collaboration of drivers when they come across adapted cycling activities in the city.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.56238/sevened2024.002-038