History of the Paralympic Movement in Australia

Introduction

This is a style guide for Australian Paralympic articles on English Wikipedia. It is based on accepted editing practices on English Wikipedia based on the Manual of Style and the Games summary – Nations at the Olympics Manual of Style. These should be considered best practices for editing Wikipedia. These guidelines may not be in line with best practices for the Australian Paralympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee.

Paralympics

Paralympic and Paralympian should be treated as proper nouns and capitalised when used in article names and in the text.

Describing athletes

Only athletes who have competed at the Paralympics as accredited athletes as part of their national team can be be described as Paralympians. In Australia, this means only athletes who have been accredited members of the Australian Paralympic Team who competed at the Paralympics are Paralympians. Non-competing support personnel who attended the games may be referred to as Team members. Once an athlete has competed at the Paralympics, they are a Paralympian. They should not be described as former Paralympian.

The preference in the Paralympic community is to describe people as having a disability, not to define them as being disabled. Example: an athlete with a disability is preferred over a disabled athlete. Athletes should not be described as wheelchair bound or confined to a wheelchair, both of which imply that a wheelchair is limiting or confining, when in fact the opposite may be true. The International Paralympic Committee proposes that you use words such as uses a wheelchair. Please assume good faith when you see and fix non-preferred wording.

Describing the Games

When attaching the word games to describe the Paralympics, it should always be capitalised: Paralympic Games. On Wikipedia, the standard practice is to use Paralympics as the default. In contrast, the Australian Paralympic Committee's practice is to use Paralympic Games in formal writing, and to use Paralympics in informal writing.

Wikipedia describes the games using YEAR SUMMER/WINTER Paralympics. Example: 2008 Summer Paralympics. This differs from how the Australian Paralympic Committee differentiates between Paralympic Games. They use the pattern which is followed by the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee: CITY YEAR Paralympic Games. Example: London 2012 Paralympic Games. Another difference between Wikipedia and Australian Paralympic Committee usage is the order of the seasons when generally discussing the games. The standard usage on Wikipedia is SEASON Paralympics or SEASON Paralympic Games. Example: Summer Paralympic Games. This differs from the Australian Paralympic Committee who use the pattern in formal writing: Paralympic SEASON Games. Example: Paralympic Winter Games. The Australian Paralympic Committee has informal usage where the season is not capitalised. Example: 'the summer Games, or the Vancouver winter Paralympics. While this is the preference, the wording on Wikipedia may not match.

Describing sports and teams

The preference in the Paralympic community is to describe sports as being disability connected, not to define sport as being disabled. Example: disability sport or sport for people with a disability or sport for people with disabilities will generally be preferred over disabled sport, especially as the latter can have negative connotations. While this is the preference, the wording on Wikipedia may not match. Please assume good faith when you see and fix non-preferred wording.

Wikipedia and the Australian Paralympic Committee treat sports as common nouns. When appearing in text, they should not be capitalised, except when the first word in a sentence. Hence, wheelchair basketball, judo, goalball and alpine skiing. When describing the Australian Paralympic Team, Team should be capitalised as it is a proper noun. When describing teams for individual sports like swimming, wheelchair basketball, goalball and wheelchair rugby, team should not be capitalised as it is not a proper noun. If the team name is being used, the team name should be capitalised. Examples: Rollers and Gliders.

Article names on Wikipedia

Athletes

Athlete names should be formatted in the article name as: FIRSTNAME LASTNAME. The name used should be the one the athlete is best known for. In the cases of most Paralympians, this will be the name they competed under at the Paralympics. Do not include titles and honors in the article name. Example: Elizabeth Edmondson.

Nations at specific games

The format for nations at specific games is: NATION at the YEAR SUMMER/WINTER Paralympics. Example: Australia at the 1980 Summer Paralympics.

Organisations

Names of organizations and titles of publications, because they are usually officially-registered and often trademarked designations, should be left as-is, but redirected-to from the name that would adhere to this guideline.

Sports at specific games

Sports at specific Paralympics should be formatted as: SPORT at the YEAR SEASON Paralympics. Example: Judo at the 1988 Summer Paralympics

Events at specific games

Events at specific Paralympics should be formatted as: SPORT at the YEAR SEASON Paralympics – EVENT. Example: Judo at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 60 kg

History of the Paralympic Movement in Australia/Wikipedia/Style Guide