Better to give than receive

Advocacy efforts by and for people with disabilities have traditionally focused on gaining opportunities for inclusive community recreation. While benefits of inclusive recreation experiences for people with and without disabilities have been documented and discussed extensively (e.g., Schleien, Ray, & Green, 1997), one leisure activity that has received little attention is volunteerism. People with disabilities are typically viewed as the recipients of volunteer services rather than potential contributors of services. The concept of inclusive volunteering represents a paradigm shift, one in which we begin to look at people with disabilities in a new role as givers and contributors to the community. The terms "volunteerism" and "service learning" are often used interchangeably. It's important, however, to distinguish between community service provided of one's own free will (volunteerism) and community service that's integrated with one's educational requirements (service learning). Therefore, this article is limited to a discussion of volunteerism only