Characteristics of Secondary Age Students With Intellectual Disability Who Participate in School-Sponsored Extracurricular Activities

Abstract

This study investigated the relation between grade level, support needs, and use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and the participation of secondary age students with intellectual disability in school-sponsored extracurricular activities. Participants were special education teachers with at least one student with an intellectual disability on their caseload who participated in a school-sponsored extracurricular activity ( N = 498). Data were collected using an online questionnaire sent to members of a national listserv for transition professionals. Teachers reported students participated in a variety of extracurricular activities within the categories of sports/fitness, school clubs, special events, and performing arts. The majority of students participated in activities for less than 3 hr per week and did not participate in activities that only included students with disabilities. Support needs and use of AAC were related to the type of extracurricular activities in which students participated, the amount of time students spent in extracurricular activities each week, and the extent to which students participated in extracurricular activities that only included students with disabilities. Grade-level differences were nonsignificant, except in relation to activities that only included students with disabilities.