The Paralympic Games is a major international multi-sport event involving athletes with a range of disabilities, including impaired muscle power (e.g. paraplegia and quadriplegia, muscular dystrophy, post-polio syndrome, spina bifida), impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency (e.g. amputation or dysmelia), leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment and intellectual impairment. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

The Paralympics has grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948 to become one of the largest international sporting events by the early 21st century. Paralympians strive for equal treatment with non-disabled Olympic athletes, but there is a large funding gap between Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

The Paralympic Games are organized in parallel with the Olympic Games, while the IOC-recognized Special Olympics World Games include athletes with intellectual disabilities, and the Deaflympics include deaf athletes.

Given the wide variety of disabilities that Paralympic athletes have, there are several categories in which the athletes compete. The allowable disabilities are broken down into ten eligible impairment types. The categories are impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment and intellectual impairment. These categories are further broken down into classifications, which vary from sport to sport.

Answer the following questions:
1. What event is held following the Olympic Games?
2. How many seasons are the games held?
3. Which are?
4. When did they begin?
5. Who were the first to participate?
6. What are two types of disabilities that athletes may have?
7. What event do those with hearing loss participate in?
8. And those who have limited comprehension abilities?
9. Does everyone in Paralympics compete in the same category?
10. How many are there?
11. What are they divided by?
12. Who provides oversight of all Paralympic games?
13. Do athletes in the paralympics have as much financial backing as athletes in the Olympics?
14. Are the events organized simultaneously?
15. Where were the Summer Olympics in 1988?
16. What tradition began following the Olympics that year?
17. Was the first Paralympics game a huge event?
1. Paralympic Games
2. Two
3. Winter and Summer
4. 1948
5. British World War II veterans
6. impaired muscle power and impaired passive range of movement,
7. the Deaflympics
8. Special Olympics World Games
9. no
10. 10
11. impairment types.
12. the International Paralympic Committee
13. no
14. no
15. Seoul, South Korea
16. the Winter and Summer Paralympic Games
17. no