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Recreational Participation of Children with High Functioning Autism

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Abstract

The recreation of children with High Functioning Autism (HFA) is not well understood. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to compare the recreational engagement of children with HFA and their typically developing peers. Children with HFA (n = 30) and peers (n = 31) were similar on key characteristics that may impact recreation except those related to the HFA attributes. Children with HFA differed from peers in terms of diversity (p = .002), social aspects (p = .006) and locations (p < .001) of recreation. The two groups were not statistically different in personal intensity (p = .684), enjoyment (p = .239) or preferences (p = .788) of recreation. A recreational profile was developed to benefit parents and clinicians in supporting the recreation of these children.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the contributions to this study of colleagues Dr. Sara Ahmed, Dr. Janice Dunn and Mr. Alan Howard as well as the families who participated in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center on Disability and Community Inclusion, University of Vermont, Man Hall, 3rd floor, 208 Colchester Ave., Burlington, VT, 05405-1757, USA

    Marie-Christine Potvin

  2. School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, 3654 Prom Sir William Osler, Montreal, QC, H3G 1Y5, Canada

    Laurie Snider, Eva Kehayia & Sharon Wood-Dauphinee

  3. College of Nursing and Health Science, University of Vermont, 105 Rowell Building, 106 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT, 05405-0068, USA

    Patricia Prelock

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  1. Marie-Christine Potvin
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  2. Laurie Snider
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  4. Eva Kehayia
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  5. Sharon Wood-Dauphinee
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Correspondence to Marie-Christine Potvin.

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This paper was based on the first author’s doctoral dissertation. Her doctoral studies were funded in part by the Organization for Autism Research, the American Occupational Therapy Foundation and the Judith Kornbluth Gelfand Pediatric Fellowship.

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Potvin, MC., Snider, L., Prelock, P. et al. Recreational Participation of Children with High Functioning Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 43, 445–457 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1589-6

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