Overview
Background
Professor Sean Tweedy leads the Para Sport and Adapted Physical Activity Research Group in the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, University of Queensland. Through his applied research program he aims to generate the knowledge required to empower people with disabilities to pursue self-directed goals through safe, effective engagement in sport and physical activity. Sean’s research addresses three main areas of need:
- People with disabilities are among the most inactive people in society and consequently have a disproportionately high incidence of preventable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes mellitus. Sean’s research program aims to develop evaluate and translate evidence-based methods for increasing physically active behaviour among community dwelling adults with disabilities.
- Para athletes have impairments which adversely affect sports performance, but the extent to which performance is affected varies greatly with some athletes having impairments that cause severe disadvantage in sport and others that cause relatively minor disadvantage. To ensure that competition is fair and that athletes who succeed are not simply those that have less severe impairments, Para athletes compete in classes, each comprising athletes who have impairments that cause a similar amount of disadvantage in sport. Methods for allocating class are not well established and Sean is Principal Investigator for the International Paralympic Committee’s Classification Research and Development Centre (physical impairments) which aims to develop best practice and evidence-based methods for allocating athletes to classes;
- In Australia, the right of people with disability to participate in sport and recreation is protected but only if the accommodations they require - equipment and/or expertise - are deemed to be "reasonable”. Unfortunately people with severe disabilities and high support needs often require equipment and/or expertise which cannot reasonably be expected of community sport and recreation providers. Sean’s research program aims to develop, evaluate and translate methods for safe, effective engagement in physically demanding, competitive sport for people with severe disabilities and high support needs. ParaSTART is his flagship program in this area - https://habs.uq.edu.au/parastart
Availability
- Professor Sean Tweedy is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Human Movement Science, The University of Queensland
- Masters (Coursework), The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research impacts
Professor Tweedy developed the Adapted Physical Activity Program (APAP), a theory-driven physical activity promotion program for community dwelling people disabilities. A controlled clinical trial demonstrated its efficacy in people with acquired brain injury, providing impetus for its implementation into the Acquired Brain Injury-Transitional Rehabilitation Service, Queensland’s primary rehabilitation service for people with brain injury. APAP also runs on a cost recovery basis from UQ and each year more than 100 community dwelling adults with a wide range of disabilities are referred. To refer a client visit - https://hmns.uq.edu.au/apap/.
Our research group developed the Maximum Allowable Standing Height (MASH) rule for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) which is the international standard used to ensure the prosthetics used by bilateral lower limb amputees are anatomically proportional. In 2019 Mr Blake Leeper (USA), a bilateral transtibial amputee and elite 400 m sprinter, applied to World Athletics (WA, Previously IAAF)to run at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games (i.e., against non-disabled runners). In support of his application Mr Leeper provided a scientific report which claimed to show that his prosthetics did not provide him with a competitive advantage. Our group were engaged by WA to evaluate the scientific merit of Mr Leeper's application. We assessed Mr Leepers report and a range of other scientific evidence and advised WA that, on the balance of probabilities, Mr Leepers prosthetics did confer an advantage his application should be rejected. Mr Leeper contested the decision but on 26.10.21 the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled in support of our assessment (CAS2020/A/6807). In December 2020 Mr Leeper challenged the CAS decision on the grounds that the scientific evidence provided by our group was racially discriminatory. However, on 11.6.21, CAS once again ruled in our favour and found our methods were not racially discriminatory (decision announced, grounds pending).
Sean is first author on the IPC Position Stand – Background and Scientific Principles of Classification in disability sport which is among the most highly cited scientific papers in the field (263 citations) and which has also been incorporated verbatim into the IPC Handbook (Chapter 4.4), the common repository for all guiding documents for the Paralympic movement
Works
Search Professor Sean Tweedy’s works on UQ eSpace
2002
Conference Publication
Lifestyle Physical Activity in Neurological Rehabilitation
Tweedy, S. M. and Barker, R. (2002). Lifestyle Physical Activity in Neurological Rehabilitation. Faculty of Health Sciences Teaching and Learning Workshop, Brisbane, Australia, 20 June 2002.
2000
Conference Publication
Using the ICIDH-2 to define eligibility for disability athletics
Tweedy, S.M. and Madden, R. (2000). Using the ICIDH-2 to define eligibility for disability athletics. Pushing the limits / 5th Scientific Congress, Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 11-13 October, 2000.
1999
Conference Publication
Physical Activity, Impairment and Disability
Tweedy, S. (1999). Physical Activity, Impairment and Disability. The Third National Conference on Injury Prevention and Control, Brisbane, Qld, Australia, 5-9 May, 1999. Brisbane, Qld, Australia: The University of Queensland.
1999
Conference Publication
Scientific Considerations of Classification in Athletics
Tweedy, Sean M. (1999). Scientific Considerations of Classification in Athletics. 7th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, Adelaide Australia, 23-27 March, 1999. Adelaide South Australia:
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Sean Tweedy is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Available projects
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Does a high-volume, performance-focused swimming program elicit meaningful, therapeutic change in people with cerebral palsy? A proof-of-concept study
In the general population, the dose-response relationship between exercise volume and relative disease-risk is curvilinear with an inflection at 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week: below this volume (i.e., lower frequency, intensity and/or duration) relative disease-risk increases rapidly; and above this volume, disease-risk continues to decrease, but less rapidly. Importantly, there is no obvious upper threshold. This dose-response relationship is believed to apply to people with cerebral palsy (CP), although research in this population to date has focused almost exclusively on low-volume exercise. The benefits of high-volume exercise have not been investigated and anecdotal evidence indicates that high-volume exercise, such as is undertaken by Paralympic swimmers, elicits clinical outcomes that significantly exceed those conferred by lower volumes. This proof-of-concept study will apply Talent Identification/Talent Development methods from elite sport to identify untrained, people with CP with moderate-to-severe impairments, but with physical and psychological attributes known to be advantageous in competitive swimming. Half of the sample will complete a 12-week, high-volume, performance-focused swimming program. The effect of this exercise dose on participants’ health, fitness and functioning will be compared with the effects of a 12-week intervention aimed at assisting a control-group to accrue 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Physical and Psychosocial Responses of Adolescents with Moderateto- Severe Cerebral Palsy to a Performance-Focused Frame Running Program
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Beckman
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Doctor Philosophy
Development and Evaluation of Medical Screening and Management Procedures for People with Disabilities and High Support Needs Commencing Competitive Sport
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Beckman, Dr Jessica Hill
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Doctor Philosophy
an evaluation of the impact of performance focused sports training on clinical outcomes in individuals with high support needs
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Beckman
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Doctor Philosophy
Prospective analysis of para swimming- investigating talent identification, talent development and the impact on impairment and performance.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Beckman
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Doctor Philosophy
Neurophysiological measurements in Paralympic Sport Classification
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Timothy Carroll, Associate Professor Emma Beckman
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Doctor Philosophy
Developing a Motor Assessment Tool that is Feasible for Autistic Children with High Support Needs
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Beckman, Professor John Cairney
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Doctor Philosophy
Understanding and influencing sedentary time in workers with a disability
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Ana Goode, Dr Jessica Hill, Professor Genevieve Healy
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Doctor Philosophy
Human Posture Recognition Applied to Physical Activity
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Xin Yu
-
Doctor Philosophy
Examining the Efficacy of Attentional Focus Instruction on Typically and Atypically Developing Young Learners Performing a Postural Control Task
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Gregore Iven Mielke, Professor John Cairney
-
Doctor Philosophy
Implementation and scale-up of ParaSTART, a performance focused sports training and applied research program for people with high support needs disabilities.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Beckman
-
Doctor Philosophy
Para Sport coach development- a prospective longitudinal study
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Steven Rynne, Associate Professor Emma Beckman
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Doctor Philosophy
Human-Centered Independent Living for People with Paraplegia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Dhaval Vyas
-
Doctor Philosophy
Enduring policy conundrums in the education of young people with disabilities: The case of Health, Sport and Physical Education
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Leigh Sperka
Completed supervision
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Promoting Physical Activity for Community-Dwelling Manual Wheelchair Users with Spinal Cord Injury
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stewart Trost, Associate Professor Sjaan Gomersall
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Para runners with brain impairment: Biomechanical characteristics and evidence based methods for classification
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Beckman
-
2021
Doctor Philosophy
Para sport classification and exercise training responses in people with neuromusculoskeletal impairment
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Beckman
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
The effect of performance-focused swimming training on clinical outcomes in young people with cerebral palsy who have high support needs
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Beckman
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
Methods for selecting and optimising competitive freestyle swimming technique for people with cerebral palsy who have high support needs
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Beckman
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2016
Doctor Philosophy
Development and evaluation of a battery of reciprocal tapping tasks for detecting Intentional Misrepresentation of Abilities in Paralympic Classification
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Beckman
-
2015
Doctor Philosophy
Towards Evidence-Based Classification for Paralympic Running and Throwing Events
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Beckman
-
2014
Doctor Philosophy
Promotion of Physical Activity Among Adults with an Acquired Brain Injury
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stewart Trost
-
2011
Doctor Philosophy
Development and Evaluation of Assessment Methods to Permit Evidence-based Classification in Paralympic Athletics
Principal Advisor
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Developing and Evaluating Measures for Detecting Intentional Misrepresentation during Assessments of Isometric Strength
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Beckman
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Physiological and psychological effects of an exercise program on children with chronic pulmonary disease
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Sjaan Gomersall, Professor Stewart Trost
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Pathways and Choices Related to Housing and Support for Younger People with High Care Needs.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Jennifer Fleming
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2006
Master Philosophy
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN CHILDREN WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES: FACTORS INFLUENCING PARTICIPATION AND FUNCTIONAL OUTCOMES OF PARTICIPATION
Associate Advisor
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Sean Tweedy directly for media enquiries about:
- Careers - exercise science
- Disability and health
- Disability and sport
- Exercise science
- Health and disability
- Human movement studies
- Paralympics
- Physical activity
- Physical activity and disability
- Sport and disability
- Wheelchair sports
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