Excerpt from International Forum: Leisure, Sports, Cultural Arts and Employment for Persons With Disability The theme for inspire '85 and the International Forum on Leisure, Sports, Cultural Arts and Employment was independence, dignity and Opportunity for persons with dis abilities. The overall goal was to focus on improvement Of programs and services that would significantly effect the quality of life in the home, community and workplace. Through research we have learned that independence, social success and life satisfaction are closely related to the effective use Of leisure time. Furthermore, success in one's free time is correlated with employability, job success, physical health and personal well-being. Various studies indicate that persons with disabilities who do not have avocational interests and involvement hobbies, sports, socio-recreational Outlets) are more likely to become isolated from community life, have reduced physical health and functioning, and frequently become financial burdens on their families and society. On the other hand, many persons with disabilities have found participation in sports, music, art, drama, and other leisure activities to be a primary link to the non-disabled world around them. Persons disabled by illness or injury frequently cite their involvement in sports and recreation as the critical factor in their rehabilitation, the avenue for establishing a sense of wholeness and self - esteem. Perhaps most important, these activities provide the skills and motivation to become active and independent participants in the life of their communities. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.