When her class moved outside for P.E., special education teacher Tiffani Jaseph saw the excitement.
After coaches and players from Adaptive Sports In Schools, or ASIS, unloaded dozens of wheelchairs at Copper View Elementary in the Sahuarita School District, they told students about racing the chairs and playing wheelchair basketball.
Jaseph saw the difference in her students who, if only for this P.E. class, educated their peers and sat taller with pride. Some laughed, and rolled their eyes as first-timers experimented with the equipment.
The able-bodied students sat in cambered wheelchairs — think wide wheels for balance — and began to push. Some of Jaseph’s students showed them how. They reversed. Twisted. Rolled back.
“I see ASIS really make connections with the kids. One of my students in particular, she has a walker and sometimes she uses a wheelchair if she needs it and I remember the first time they came and she got to participate,” Jaseph said. “You could just see that she was really proud and kind of excited to show off her skills and she’s very shy. And so it was really cool to just see her confidence grow.”
The ASIS program was launched three years ago introducing students to adaptive athletics through P.E. classes. It helps P.E. teachers integrate disabled students and build inclusive programs. ASIS coaches and adaptive athletes visit different schools throughout Southern Arizona every week during the school year.
“The message really was ‘we’re all the same and disability is just a natural part of human existence,’” said ASIS co-founder Mia Hansen, who is also executive director of Southern Arizona Adaptive Sports. “Using a sports wheelchair is just another piece of equipment.”
Hansen, with help from University of Arizona Adaptive Athletics Director Peter Hughes initiated the program with Dr. Burris “Duke” Duncan of the UA’s College of Public Health. They built on the UA’s history as the largest and one of the oldest adaptive programs in the country for collegiate athletes, offering seven sports.
Adaptive UA athletes are now integrated into ASIS and some make the rounds of Southern Arizona schools. Students play tag or wheelchair rugby with a national champion or Paralympian. And none realize it.
Jaseph, named the 2026 Arizona Teacher of the Year by the Arizona Educational Foundation, was sold on the program that teaches empathy and instills confidence.
“It has been cool when I hear kids say ‘Oh I wish I could use a wheelchair all the time,’” she said. “It’s just cute because it comes from an innocent place and I think it just makes them realize it’s cool, and it helps them to just embrace the diversity.”
Three things to know about the ASIS program:
- ASIS began with 25 P.E. teachers and has now been to 40 schools. “It started as a series of P.E. takeovers if you will, but we would, first of all, focus on teaching the teachers,” Hansen said. “So, we offered continuing education units and included P.E. teachers and the first one, we had 25 P.E. teachers who loved it. They were all taught concepts of wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, seated volleyball, baseball. We picked five or six of the big, easy-to-reach kind of sports.”
- Bodies can do anything. Amphitheater High sophomore Ismaila Jarjue, “Ish” has used a wheelchair for most of his life and plays basketball for the Junior Wildcats boys team, the national runner-up last month in the 14-18 varsity division of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association championships. Originally from Gambia in West Africa, Ish moved to Arizona with his mom at age 7. He first learned about wheelchair basketball from a P.E. teacher who introduced him to Southern Arizona Adaptive Sports. The program changed his life, he says. “I saw what they do. It’s pretty cool. The kids learning about how to play the first time,” Ish said. “At first, I’m pretty sure it’s tough for them. But when they get used to it, you see they have fun. Very cool. I just say, with people, we can do anything a body can do and this program is kind of a reminder of that.”
- Early exposure to all kinds of athletes and abilities makes a difference. “It’s clear that if more P.E. teachers had better tools and training and more schools offered inclusive adaptive sports for children, like Ish, who are not necessarily placed in special education, but rather are expected to somehow fit into mainstream P.E. classes — then more children with disabilities would benefit from what is obvious: That physical education and sports matter deeply,” Hansen said.
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