You are indead correct Mary
Below is a baulk email reply to all who e-mailed in relation to this..... Bit of food for thought.
Also follow the thread here.... Very interesting reading.
http://www.sailinganarchy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=30316and the reply:
I’m happy to discuss this at length with you, but my immediate comment relates only to three areas in the email that are not accurate:
1) Jeff is disabled, and the IFDS certainly does not “see it differently”. The question only surrounds his “functional ability” on board a sailboat when compared to other disabled sailors. A group of classifiers (including Australia’s own International Classifier) determined his level of disability to be an “eight” on a seven point scale, and thus “not classifiable”. This is a very far cry from “not disabled”
2) The decision (and the publication thereof) was made immediately following the 2004 Paralympic Games in the quadrennial classification review. All information was approved and published by January 2005 – not “the eve of the event”. It is unfortunate that Jeff was not aware of the change – and we are looking at ways of individually notifying people whose classification has changed in the future.
The other parts – whether the classification system is wrong, whether IFDS is being exclusive or inclusive, and whether Jeff could go steer an IACC boat – are all points which I would be happy to openly and freely discuss with you. Hopefully out of our discussion, we could both gain some new ideas and perhaps both draw some different conclusions. We are always looking to make the sport as inclusive as possible – within the limits of equity between the wide range of sailors represented. The story mentions hand amputations – you might be interested to know that, for instance, the highest level of hand amputation was “excluded” following the 2000 Games… effectually also becoming an “eight” in a seven point scale. Like in Jeff’s case, this unfortunately resulted in a couple of people not being able to compete in IFDS competition.
The questions raised here are good ones – but the question remains of where to draw the line. Am I functionally disabled enough to compete in a disabled sailing competition that includes ventilated quadriplegics if I’m missing one eye? How about 3 fingers? Two toes? A hand? Half a foot? A whole foot? In chronic pain? Deaf?
I would certainly appreciate your insight and suggestions on where that line should be drawn (and the associated rationale) – and will include your comments in our next round of meetings. I am available at your convenience via email (
[email protected]) or phone (+1.941.726.0256).
Respectfully,
Serge
Sylint
Cyber Security,
Intelligence & Analysis
Serge Jorgensen
+1.941.951.6015
sjorgensen@usinfosec.comThe Sylint Group
PO Box 49886
Sarasota, Florida 34230 USA
