ASD-related
Physical and social environment
Kind of activity
Materials and Methods
Recently, research has proposed effective ways to intervene with people living with ASD in order to optimize their integration in sports and physical activity. In particular, there have been suggested ecologic, cost-effective and scalable approaches. These smart strategies have to be disclosed to teachers, educators and instructors of all kind of sports. They should be aware of the barriers related to ASD, and should be also capable of implement strategies to overcome this barriers in order to include people with ASD in sport activities. Specifically, they should focus on the social environment, the kind of activity proposed, communication strategies.
The social environment also involves other young people in the group. The practiced activity leads young people to interact. Barriers related to ASD include repetitive, obsessional, or compulsive activities as well as communication and social interaction challenges. When engaging in sport and physical activity, a young person with ASD might have a hard time understanding a play, paying attention to the rules, anticipating, and elaborating good strategies. Some barriers may also be related to their gross motor function. Coherence, stability and safety needs can also limit the participation of young people with ASD in sport and physical activity, especially when the activities are new or take place in a new environment with people they don’t know. It is even more difficult for a young person with ASD to feel comfortable in such conditions.
Barriers related to the physical and social environments have also been identified. As for the physical environment, the barriers are mainly at the sensory level. The texture of a uniform, the feeling of a bathing cap on the head, or the ambient noise during a swimming class, are all examples of barriers identified by the parents and caregivers of young people living with ASD.