Living with disabilities series
Social participation of children with disabilities

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by Krista Kowalchuk and Susan Crompton

What you should know about this study
A little about the study population
Type of disability associated with non-sport activities, severity with peer networks
Child’s day-to-day functioning related to involvement in sports and peer networks
In general, children’s social competencies are not associated with social engagement
Family support is strongly related to participation in organized sports and non-sport activities
Family income and urban residence are strongly linked to sports participation
Environmental barriers associated with lower participation in organized sports
Summary

Having friends, participating in group activities and joining clubs are ways in which children become engaged with their society, and these activities represent an essential aspect of their social and personal development.¹ Being engaged in extracurricular activities is also related to a number of other direct benefits for a child, including better academic results and reduced emotional and behavioural problems.² However, participating in these activities is not always easy for some children, especially those who have a disability.³

Child development is a complicated process that becomes more complex when a child has a disability. In all aspects of their lives, children with disabilities may need help in order to ensure as much equality and accessibility to daily activities as possible. While we know a lot about education, assistive aids and adaptive technology, medical treatments, and transportation, researchers have not devoted as much attention to issues pertaining to social participation.⁴

Social participation—which we will also call social engagement —refers to relationships with family members, peers, community members, local institutions and, at the broadest level, with society. Earlier research has found that children with disabilities are less involved than their non-disabled counterparts, in that they participate less in social activities.⁵ As public awareness of the importance of inclusion grows, children with disabilities are increasingly accommodated in extracurricular activities.

This article will identify the factors that influence the social engagement of children with disabilities aged 5 to 14 who live with their parents. The focus is on participation in social activities outside the family home and outside regular school hours. Social engagement is measured by participation in organized sports; in organized non-sport activities (lessons, clubs and community groups); and in virtual networks with their peers (phone, chatrooms, email). Following the literature, the factors we examine include the effect of the child’s condition on their day-to-day functioning, the child’s own social competencies, family functioning, parental support, and environmental barriers.

A little about the study population

In 2006, the Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) identified about 125,000 children aged 5 to 14 living with their parents who had disabilities. Almost two-thirds of these children were boys (65%); over half of them were “tweens” between 10 and 14 years old (57%); over four in ten children (44%) had a degree of disability that was classified as severe or very severe.

The types of disabilities these children had, as reported by their parents, covered a wide range of physical as well as non-physical limitations, with the most common types being learning disabilities (71%), chronic physical limitations like diabetes, asthma or heart disease (62%), speech conditions (46%), and chronic non-physical limitations such as autism or attention deficit disorder (42%).⁶

Rather than focus on specific disabilities, this article will address the three major categories of disability: physical disabilities only (19% of children in the study population), non-physical disabilities only (24%), and both physical and non-physical disabilities (57%) (Chart 1).

Chart 1  Over half of school-age children with disabilities have both physical and non-physical disabilities

A child’s participation in activities outside the regular structure of home and school is a key measure of their social engagement. Children can be engaged socially and meet new friends through a variety of activities. In this study, we examine children’s engagement using three separate indicators of social participation: organized sports and physical activities (“sports”); lessons, clubs and community groups (“non-sport activities”); and interaction with peers online via e-mail, in newsgroups or chatrooms, and on the telephone (“networks”) (see “What you should know about this study” for complete information).

Just under two-thirds (63%) of 5- to 14-year-old children with disabilities were engaged in some kind of organized sport or other physical activity, such as playing soccer, tae kwon do, swimming or dancing. Most of these children were doing something at least once a week⁷ (Chart 2).

Chart 2  The majority of children with disabilities take part in some kind of extracurricular social activity

Over half (54%) of children with disabilities took lessons in some type of non-sport interest, or belonged to clubs or community groups; a large majority of participants did something every week. And almost three-quarters of children with disabilities (72%) were linked to networks with their peers, with three-quarters of participants online or on the phone with friends at least once a week.

Type of disability associated with non-sport activities, severity with peer networks

To identify children with disabilities who are more likely to participate in social activities, the first factors to examine are the type and severity of the child’s disability. If children with limitations are unable to join in particular events or activities, they may be excluded from engaging socially with their peers and others. And though it is often thought that children with physical disabilities are excluded more often than those with non-physical limitations, other obstacles can act as barriers for children with cognitive or developmental disabilities; for instance, if a child’s disability causes him to act impulsively or impairs her communications skills, they are often not accepted into the peer group.⁸

The PALS data show that a child with both physical and non-physical disabilities is significantly less likely to take part in organized sports. Only 59 % of these children were participants, compared with 70 % of children with physical limitations only (Table 1).

Table 1  Children with disabilities aged 5 to 14, living with parents, participating in social activities, 2006

Similarly, children with both physical and non-physical limitations were less likely to be engaged in non-sport activities like taking lessons or belonging to clubs or community groups, situations which may demand more sophisticated social skills. They were also less likely to have virtual networks with their peers.

The severity of their limitation is related to children’s participation in two of three social activities. Only 43% of kids with a very severe degree of disability were connected to peer networks, compared with 86% of children with mild limitations. The gap was smaller but still statistically significant for organized sports, at 45% versus 70% (Table 1).

It is useful to know whether the type of disability or the degree of its severity has a stronger association with a child’s probability of being socially engaged. To isolate the effects of individual factors, logistic regression models were developed to estimate the odds that a child with a given characteristic was a participant rather than a non-participant in a given social activity. (See “What you should know about this study” for more information about the regression models.)

After controlling for the effects of other factors (including severity of disability), the model results show that type of disability was not associated with participation in organized sports or in peer networks. But for non-sport activities, children with a non-physical disability had significantly lower odds of being involved than those with physical disabilities only (Table 2).

Table 2  Odds ratios of children with disabilities aged 5 to 14, living with parents, participating in social activities, 2006

The severity of the child’s condition is not associated with their odds of participation in sports or non-sports activities, once other factors (including type of disability) are controlled for. The exception is peer networks: compared to children with a mild degree of disability, those with a very severe disability had less than half the odds of being online or on the phone with friends and other peers.⁹

Child’s day-to-day functioning related to involvement in sports and peer networks

Some conditions create a specific disadvantage for a child. For example, some children may have to receive help with everyday activities; for others, their condition may often cause difficulties accessing transportation or leisure activities, or it may impose certain restrictions at school.

According to PALS, children who have such disadvantages were just as likely as others to participate in non-sport activities, but they were significantly less likely to be involved in organized sports and peer e-networks (Table 1). However, after controlling for other factors in the model, the effect of the child’s condition on day-to-day functioning was no longer associated with participation in organized sports.

Results of the model show that children who received help in order to do daily activities had significantly lower odds of being involved in virtual peer networks (Table 2). However, attending a school that did a good job of accommodating their condition did significantly increase the odds of being “connected,” after all other factors were controlled for.

In general, children’s social competencies are not associated with social engagement

Much of children’s social interaction takes place in the classroom; consequently, that is where most children learn how to behave toward one another and to develop and maintain social relationships. Thus, it seems reasonable to measure children’s social competencies by how well they interact with others and whether they enjoy going to school (where they will see many of their friends).¹⁰ Since a child’s age and sex are generally related to social confidence, we will examine these characteristics first.

The child’s age and sex were not related to higher levels of participation in organized sports. But girls were more likely than boys to be involved in non-sport activities and in virtual peer groups. Also, “connectedness” was much higher for 10- to 14-year-olds (82%) than 5- to 9-year-olds (60%). These relationships remained significant after controlling for other factors (Table 1).¹¹

Children with disabilities who looked forward to going to school most of the time were no more or less likely to participate in all three extracurricular activities than those who were not so keen to be in class. Similarly, children who got along very well with other kids were no more or less likely to be involved than those who did not get on so easily. The exception is in virtual peer networks: children who related very well to others were more likely to be active, at 78% versus 66% (Table 1).

But once other factors are taken into account, getting along with other children is no longer significant for maintaining e-networks, although it is associated with lower odds of participating in sports. In contrast, children who enjoy going to school had significantly lower odds of being “connected” to peers (Table 2).

Family support is strongly related to participation in organized sports and non-sport activities

The psychological support that parents provide to their children is an important factor in predicting how socially engaged those children will be. By encouraging their child to pursue his interests, parents can give a child confidence and play a key role in developing their level of engagement.¹² Still, it is important to point out that too much parental involvement might be detrimental: a 2006 report notes that parents of disabled children tend to interfere during play with other children and may create conflict within the friendship.¹³

PALS data show that children whose parents had a high level of classroom commitment were more likely to participate in both organized sports and non-sport activities (classroom involvement includes having contact with the child’s teacher, attending events like plays or science fairs that the child participated in, and helping with class trips). The parent’s degree of commitment remained significant after other factors in the models were controlled for; children with a parent who was active in the classroom had three times higher odds of taking part in sports, and almost two times higher odds of being involved in non-sport activities (Table 2).

Having a parent who volunteered at the school level was also associated with higher social participation, although the relationship was not as strong (this type of involvement includes helping elsewhere in school such as in the library or computer room, attending parent council meetings, fundraising, and other activities). Children whose parents were volunteers at the school level had significantly higher odds of participating in organized sports and in non-sport activities.

In contrast, parental classroom and school-level support was not significantly associated with a child’s virtual engagement with their peer network.

Family income and urban residence are strongly linked to sports participation

Living in a two-parent family may provide instrumental support to a child with disabilities. Two parents may find it easier to facilitate social engagement, for example, by driving the child to events, providing needed assistance to the child when she joins in activities, and so on. But marital status was not significantly associated with social participation, once other factors were controlled for.

In contrast, family income is another type of instrumental support and it is strongly related to engagement in organized sports. When family income was over $90,000, children were much more likely to participate in organized sports than if it was under $30,000 (76% compared to 54%) (Table 1). Income remained strongly related to sports participation, even after other factors were taken into account: the odds of participating were about two to three times higher for children with disabilities living in families with incomes over $60,000. On the other hand, a family’s income had no association with the odds that their child was engaged in non-sport activities or virtual peer network (Table 2).

Another element of instrumental support, especially for children with disabilities, can be the family’s proximity to services. Children with disabilities who lived in urban areas had significantly higher odds of taking part in organized sports than those who lived in rural areas. This finding may reflect the greater availability, in urban centres, of programs and facilities that can accommodate children with disabilities. In contrast, the family’s place of residence was not significant for either lessons, clubs and groups, or for maintaining e-networks.

Environmental barriers associated with lower participation in organized sports

Barriers in the environment can play a key role in the level of social engagement available to a child with disabilities. For example, if an activity such as baseball or hockey is not adapted to accommodate a child, he may be prevented from participating. Similarly, if a child is without adequate transportation, she is often unable to attend events or activities.¹⁴ And while children with physical limitations may lose opportunities to take part in physical activities, children with non-physical disabilities may be excluded from activities due to cognitive conditions that cause inappropriate interaction with peers.¹⁵

We identified two categories of environmental barriers: societal barriers that include programs or facilities not being available locally, transportation difficulties and high costs; and personal barriers directly related to the individual, which include the child needing special equipment or someone else’s help to join an activity, and limitations caused by the child’s condition.

As expected, PALS shows that children with disabilities were less likely to participate in organized sports if they encountered environmental barriers. Fewer than half of children who reported societal and personal barriers took part, compared with over two-thirds of other children with disabilities. After controlling for other factors, environmental barriers remained significant only for sports participation. That is, kids who faced both societal and personal barriers had lower odds of participating in organized sports.

Children were also less likely to maintain virtual peer networks if they faced environmental barriers to going online or talking on the phone; however, these factors did not remain significant once other variables in the model were taken into account.

Summary

Greater efforts are being made to accommodate children with disabilities in many extracurricular activities such as organized sports, groups and clubs. But data from the 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey show that, depending on the type of activity, as many as one-quarter to one-half of kids with disabilities never participate.

A child’s participation in activities outside the home and school is a key measure of his or her level of social engagement. This study found that about two-thirds of children aged 5 to 14 with disabilities and living with their parents took part in organized sports and physical activities; just over half were involved in non-sport organized activities like taking lessons, joining clubs and community groups; and a little less than three-quarters were engaged in virtual networks with their peers online and on the phone.

Regression models suggest that the child’s type of disability was significantly associated only with participation in non-sport activities; similarly, the severity of their limitation was related only to maintaining virtual networks with peers. Parental support at school significantly increased a child’s odds of participating in both organized sports and in non-sport activities, but not in virtual peer networks.

Other factors associated with the odds that a child would take part in social activities tended to vary with the activity. Having a higher family income, living in an urban area and getting along well with other children were positively related to sports participation.

Environmental barriers and being between 10 and 14 years old were negatively associated with sports participation. Being a girl was positively associated with taking part in organized non-sport activities.

Possibly because virtual peer networks are not mediated by adult instructors and coaches, the factors associated with participation in this activity are somewhat different. Children had higher odds of being engaged in a peer their network if they were a girl, 10 to 14 years old, and attended a school that does a good job of accommodating their child’s condition.

Krista Kowalchuk is an analyst with Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, Health Statistics Division, and Susan Crompton is a senior analyst with Canadian Social Trends.

Notes

1. Law, M., King, G., King, S., Kertoy, M., Hurley, P., Rosenbaum, P., Young, N., Hanna, S., and Petrenchik, T. (2006). Patterns and predictors of recreational and leisure participation for children with physical disabilities. CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research.
2. Guèvremont, A., Findlay, L., and Kohen. D. (2008). Organized extracurricular activities of children and youth. Health Reports 19(3), 65-69. Statistics Canada, Catalogue no. 82-003-XWE.
3. King, G., Law, M., King, S., Rosenbaum, P., Kertoy, M., and Young, N. (1999). The participation of children with disabilities. CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research.
4. Hanvey, L. (2003). Social inclusion research in Canada: Children and youth. Ottawa: Canadian Council on Social Development.
5. Hanvey (2003). Guèvremont et al. (2008). A 2008 Statistics Canada report showed that 86% of children and youth aged 6 to 17 participated at least once a month in at least one extracurricular activity, with organized sports being more common than non-sports activities such as lessons (music, art, drama, etc.) and membership in clubs or community groups.
6. Statistics Canada (2007, December 3). Participation and Activity Limitation Survey. The Daily. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-001-XWE. Almost three-quarters of all children with disabilities have been diagnosed with more than one disability.
7. Of course, many children were active in unorganized physical activities (i.e. did not involve a coach, instructor or supervisor) which are not included in this study’s definition of sports. Two-thirds (66%) of disabled children aged 5 to 14 who lived with their parents took part in these unorganized activities, and of these children, 74% participated at least once a week.
8. Bortoli, A., and Brown, M.P. (2002). The significance of attention during social engagement. Document presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Brisbane, Australia.
9. Law, M., Finkelman, S., Hurley, P., Rosenbaum, P., King, S., King, G., and Hanna, S. (2004). Participation of children with physical disabilities: relationships with diagnosis, physical function, and demographic variables. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 11(4), 156-162. In a study of children with physical disabilities, Canadian researchers found that the diagnostic category of the child’s condition was not a significant influence on participation in daily activities, once adjusted for age, sex and physical function, and suggest that other personal, family and environmental characteristics are important predictors of participation.
10. Readers should recall that these responses are reported by the parent and not the child.
11. Bortoli and Brown (2002). Research has shown that the social networks of non-disabled children are made up primarily of friends of the same sex, while those of children with a disability (whether they are boys or girls) are composed mainly of female friends. One explanation is that girls generally have a higher likelihood than boys of being friends with a child who has a disability.
12. King, G., et al. (1999).
13. Thomas, P., Roller, S., Scharnhorst, A., Cunningham, S. and Warschausky, S. (2006). Study explores how children with disabilities make friends: How can parents and school personnel help? Focus on Results, (March). Michigan Department of Education.
14. Hanvey, L. (2002). Children with Disabilities and Their Families in Canada: A Discussion Paper (November). Commissioned by the National Children’s Alliance for the First National Roundtable on Children with Disabilities.
15. Thomas et al. (2006).