The question about “What is Adapted Physical Activity -APA-” elicited such responses as gymnastics, dance, movement, exercise, sports, games, recreation, and physical education, among others. Hutzler and Sherrill (2007) described international perspectives concerning terms, definitions, and meanings of APA as (a) activities or service delivery, (b) a profession, and (c) an academic field of study. These authors concluded that APA should probably continue to thrive as a profession whether it is considered a cross-disciplinary field of study (or discipline) or a sub-specialization of physical education (PE), sport science, or kinesiology. From a sport science perspective, APA is defined as “research, theory and practice directed toward persons of all ages underserved by the general sport sciences, disadvantaged in resources, or lacking power to access equal physical activity opportunities and rights” (Sherrill & Hutzler, 2008, p. 91). APA has been attributed to being a meeting point between pedagogical and therapeutic concepts (Kiphard, 1990). Therefore, it is likely that developments in the medical and educational scholarly framework will affect this field of inquiry (Hutzler, 2011). In 1977, APA started a journey (to Ithaca?) thanks the establishment of the International Federation on Adapted Physical Activity (IFAPA), and this area had a continuous evolution and development, with a cross-disciplinary approach and a growing participation of the Physical activity and Sport Sciences.

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