Child Enjoyment and Parental Satisfaction with Autistic Children’s Participation in Active and Sedentary Activity Configurations

This research used proxy reports and questionnaire-based data to explore characteristics related to participation among autistic children. The research aimed to explore child enjoyment and parental satisfaction in different activity configurations, including active and sedentary pursuits and activities in which children participate alone or in groups. Parents/guardians (n = 100) of autistic children aged 4–15 years completed questionnaire-based assessments of their autistic child’s motor skills, social skills, and characteristics of participation. Regression analyses were completed to elucidate the factors that may contribute to a child’s enjoyment of and parental satisfaction with the child’s participation in the different activity configurations. A strong positive correlation was found between motor and social skills, and for motor and social skills in concert with the different activity configurations. Regression analyses found that the social skills of autistic children were related to participation in most of the activity configurations for both the child’s enjoyment and parental satisfaction in participation. Other results indicated that lower social skills were more strongly related to child enjoyment and parental satisfaction, and that the highest enjoyment and satisfaction scores were found for the sedentary and individual activities. These results reinforce the impact of social skills on participation in various activities, and the need for early intervention to promote skill development among autistic children.