FunEball: a promising approach to inclusive physical education for students with autism spectrum disorder

Physical education (PE) contributes to students' physical and psychological development and social competence (Donnelly et al., 2016;Watson et al., 2017). For students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), PE has the dual value of improving physical fitness and supporting social intervention (Qi et al., 2024;Li et al., 2025;Pan et al., 2025). In recent years, inclusive education has become a major focus of educational reform. Its value for students with ASD extends beyond simply placing them in general education classrooms. By adapting the instructional environment and the organization of activities, inclusive education can reduce participation barriers and enable students with ASD to engage in learning and school life (Perrelet. et al., 2025). Inclusive classrooms also provide opportunities for peer interaction, helping students with ASD to develop communication and collaboration (Tsou et al., 2026).However, the actual participation of students with ASD in inclusive physical education classes remains far from satisfactory. Research has identified complex barriers to their participation in physical activity, including difficulty adapting to the pace of traditional classes, a lack of differentiated adaptations within standardized instructional approaches, and inherent social barriers between students with ASD and their typically developing peers (TD) (Obrusnikova and Dillon, 2011;Okkenhaug et al., 2024;Salar et al., 2024). Simply being physically present within a group does not ensure genuine inclusion. As PE is a core component of school education, inclusive physical education has raised a growing awareness among both researchers and educators. However, implementing the principles of inclusive physical education in practice for students with ASD remains an urgent challenge.Therefore, it is essential to develop a feasible inclusive physical education program to address the challenges faced by students with ASD. A recent study introduced FunEball which may effectively address the above-mentioned difficulties (Liu et al., 2026). Drawing on existing literature, this opinion article proposes FunEball as a possible platform for inclusive PE and discusses its social, motor, and cognitive rationale. Its feasibility and benefits for students with ASD remain to be established empirically.Positive peer relationships are important for young people's development. However, students with special educational needs and disabilities may face bullying and social exclusion, limiting their opportunities to develop supportive relationships at school. These concerns provide a rationale for addressing barriers within peer relationships and learning environments. For students with ASD, we therefore propose peer support as a theoretical base to promote participation, rather than the neurotypical ways of communicating and interacting.Inclusive PE emphasizes that all students take on roles in shared activities and develop a sense of belonging (Block et al., 2016). FunEball, developed upon collaboration, full participation and enjoyment, combines elements of volleyball and soccer. Players can catch the ball before passing and the cooperative passing structure highlights peer support among the participants (Mak and Oh, 2019). Accordingly, peer support lays a theoretical foundation for the rationale of FunEBall in promoting an inclusive PE class.Peer support refers to help exchanged through respect, shared responsibility, and agreement about what is useful. It emphasizes mutuality, shared responsibility, and recognition of individual strengths (Mead et al., 2001). Developed in mental health settings, this perspective requires adaptation rather than direct transfer to ASD education. Its supportive functions include emotional support through care and acceptance, informational support through relevant guidance, and appraisal support through feedback on experiences and efforts (Dennis, 2003).In schools, peer support can take the form of peer buddying, peer networks, circles of friends, and social lunch clubs, thus generating affordances of social interaction and acceptance for students with special educational needs and disabilities (van der Meulen et al., 2021). A review involving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including ASD, further identifies communication, sharing experiences, helping peers learn, peer development, and creating a welcoming environment as important support roles, while highlighting reciprocity and accessible support arrangements (Pfeiffer et al., 2024). Interviews with autistic young adults suggest that school-based peer support should respect individual communication preferences, provide comfortable sensory environments, and involve students in shaping activities and support (Crompton et al., 2023). A subsequent schoolbased feasibility study illustrates how neurodivergent students can help design and lead peer-support groups, while also identifying the need to accommodate differing communication and sensory preferences (Crompton et al., 2024).Peer-mediated interventions have shown benefits for social communication and interaction among students with ASD (Kamps et al., 2015;Watkins et al., 2015). In FunEball, teachers could require different team members to participate in passing sequences, creating opportunities for broader participation and reducing the risk of a few participants dominating the game. Students with ASD could also contribute to planning and organizing play, supporting reciprocal rather than one-way assistance. Beyond participation rates, the effectiveness of inclusion should be evaluated not only by the frequency of participation but also by the quality of interactions and students' subjective experiences.For FunEball, we propose using the catch-before-pass format to let teammates signal readiness and agree on the next pass. Informational support involves demonstrating passes, using clear instructions or visual signals, and allowing response time. Emotional support represents offering encouragement in ways the student finds comfortable, including quieter cues and respect for personal space and requested breaks. Appraisal support could emphasize a player's highlights of performance and contributions to the team. Teachers and peers should agree with each participant on communication and support methods that suit the participant's individual preferences. Students with ASD should be able to communicate through their preferred methods, such as gestures or visual signals, without being required to speak or make eye contact to participate in team play. Considering the rationale of peer support in inclusive PE, we therefore propose applying FunEball to support shared participation and student contribution. Further research is needed to determine whether these peer-support strategies improve the participation of students with ASD in FunEball.FunEball not only provides students with ASD with an accessible form of physical activity but also integrates social participation, motor skill development, and cognitive development. Its rules demand observation, communication, collaboration and decision making for effective play. Accordingly, FunEball may promote inclusive PE through social, motor, and cognitive pathways.FunEball may create opportunities for students with ASD to contribute to team activities alongside their peers. It is designed to provide both low-skilled and highly skilled children equal opportunities to enjoy the game and to learn the locomotor and object-control skills (Mak and Oh, 2019).Instructors could adjust rules such as ball-holding time, the number of ball bounces, and ballhandling approaches according to the participants' skill levels (Liu et al., 2026). For the participants with ASD, allowing more holding time or increasing the number of ball bounces facilitates catching and receiving. In the meantime, instructors can adjust ball-handling approaches by encouraging TD students to pass the ball by foot, thus increasing challenges in game play. In this case, the flexible designs reduce disparity between students with ASD and their TD counterparts, which promote social participation among the participants within the same game setting.Fundamental movement skills are an essential foundation for participation in physical activity, and some students with ASD need additional support in developing them (Pan et al., 2009). Existing reviews suggest that structured physical activity can improve motor learning outcomes (Sowa and Meulenbroek, 2012;Wang et al., 2025;Laurenti et al., 2026). Successful play in the FunEball game heavily depends on catching and passing. Instructors could organize structured practice by breaking complex actions into smaller, manageable steps. For example, students with ASD could begin by catching a gently tossed ball over a short distance, then practice passing to a stationary partner, and finally combine the two skills. Mobile exercises and partner exercises could be introduced gradually as students become more comfortable with catching and passing skills. The same approach could be applied to other motor skills such as running, jumping, stopping, changing direction, and throwing. In this regard, FunEBall offers the participants with ASD affordances of fundamental movement skill development.FunEball requires participants to understand rules, process information, and adjust their behaviour, which provide affordances for cognitive development. A recent meta-analysis reported improved inhibitory control following exercise interventions, although its ball-sport subgroup did not show a significant effect (Li et al., 2026). Another review found no significant overall effect on cognitive flexibility and control (Wang et al., 2025). These findings do not establish cognitive benefits from FunEball. During the competition, participants are required to comply with the rules and memorize the number of passes. Remembering passes may engage working memory, but this task does not demonstrate lasting cognitive change. We propose visible pass counters, short instructions, fixed sequences, and optional role changes to reduce the cognitive load induced by practice. Teachers should allocate sufficient time for students to engage in reflective thinking and rest, and respond appropriately to the discomfort situations reported by students. Whether these supports enable participation while offering an appropriate cognitive challenge requires direct evaluation.This opinion article presents peer support as a rationale for applying FunEball in inclusive PE for students with ASD. We discuss the feasibility of implementing FunEball in a PE class to promote social participation, motor-skill practice, and cognitive engagement. This discussion raises awareness of potential directions for future empirical research.FunEball, as a vehicle for delivering inclusive PE to students with ASD, aligns with the growing movement toward inclusive education. The students with ASD can experience a sense of acceptance and belonging when participating in activities alongside TD peers. Future research could verify the effectiveness of inclusive PE based on the FunEball game. The evaluation indicators include the three domains in social participation, motor abilities, and cognitive functions. For social participation, video or systematic observations could record students' social initiations, peers' responses, reciprocal exchanges, and whether students' contributions influence subsequent play. Interviews could also capture students' perspectives on interactions and participation (Healy et al., 2013;Qi and Wang, 2018;Chen et al., 2023). For motor abilities, the TGMD-2 or TGMD-3 could measure locomotor and ball skills before and after the FunEball game (Allen et al., 2017;Ketcheson et al., 2017). For cognitive functions, researchers could focus on executive-function processes relevant to game play, including working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. Existing research has assessed these processes with tasks such as digit span, Stroop, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (Pan et al., 2017;Tse et al., 2021;Deng et al., 2025). More experimental and comparative research should be conducted in the future to provide practical evidence regarding how inclusive PE classes could be organized and implemented.Examining potential changes in TD students provides researchers with a novel insight into inclusive PE based on FunEBall. Relevant studies investigate influences of peer-support experience on TD students (Watkins et al.). Indeed, research has shown that TD students can benefit from interactions with individuals with ASD. Campbell et al. (2019) evaluated Kit for Kids, a single 30-40-minute autism education program, in a study involving 234 students from three elementary schools. Students completed modified versions of the Knowledge of Autism and Children's Attitudes Toward Children with Handicaps questionnaires immediately after the intervention and one week later. The results indicated increased ASD knowledge and more positive attitudes among students previously unfamiliar with ASD. Matthews et al. (2018) examined outcomes for 16 TD peer mentors participating alongside adolescents with ASD in a 14-week peer-mediated PEERS program, with weekly 90-minute sessions. Pre-post assessments using the Test of Adolescent Social Skills and the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale showed increased social skills knowledge and a moderate reduction in loneliness. These findings highlight the importance of evaluating the potential benefits of FunEball-based inclusive PE for both students with ASD and their TD peers.The author(s) declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.