Participation and Experiences in Extracurricular Activities for Autistic and Neurotypical Children

Callyn Farrell; Virginia Slaughter; Tomomi McAuliffe; Aisling Mulvihill

doi:10.1007/s10803-023-06142-z

Participation and Experiences in Extracurricular Activities for Autistic and Neurotypical Children

J Autism Dev Disord. 2023 Oct 13. doi: 10.1007/s10803-023-06142-z. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Callyn Farrell^{1

2}, Virginia Slaughter³, Tomomi McAuliffe⁴, Aisling Mulvihill³

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. c.farrell@uq.net.au.
² School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia Campus, Level Three, McElwain Building, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia. c.farrell@uq.net.au.
³ School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁴ School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

PMID: 37831305
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-06142-z

Abstract

Participation in Organised Extracurricular Social Activities (OESA) can provide positive outcomes for children. This study investigated whether children aged 4 to 12 years diagnosed with autism differ in their OESA participation and experience compared to neurotypical peers. Parents of autistic children (n = 35) and those of neurotypical peers (n = 171) responded to questions that asked them to reflect on their child's participation and experiences in OESAs. Parents of autistic children reported significantly less OESA participation compared to parents of neurotypical children. Additionally, when evaluating factors that facilitated OESA participation, parents of autistic children rated their child's individual abilities and behaviour, the OESA's features, and the social environment less positively, compared to parents of neurotypical children. OESA participation and experiences differ for autistic and neurotypical children. This study identifies factors that can be adjusted to mitigate this difference.

Keywords: Autism; Barriers; Extracurricular activities; Facilitators; Leisure activities; Participation.