Community Inclusion for Children and Youth with Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

In a pilot project to include children and youth with developmental disabilities in community recreation activities with nondisabled peers, activity coaches from university teacher education and health education programs were trained to use individualized accommodations to help the children participate. We discovered that scheduling difficulties limited the number of participants and that communication and planning assumptions may have limited participation of culturally diverse groups. Children and youth with disabilities, mostly with autistic impairments, participated in swim classes or gymnastics at individualized levels, expressed enjoyment, and improved their recreation skills. The extent to which the children were included in group activities within the classes varied from class to class. We make recommendations for future directions of inclusive recreation programming and for the greater inclusion of culturally diverse families.