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Recommendations for the inclusion of autistic children in community-based physical activity programmes: A Delphi study
Date
2026-05-31
Abstract
A range of barriers to Physical Activity (PA) participation contribute to autistic children being less physically active than their non-autistic peers. While these barriers have been well documented, further research is needed into methods of overcoming these barriers. This study aimed to create a series of best practice recommendations for the inclusion of autistic children in community-based PA programmes. This was achieved using the Delphi Method involving the opinions of international experts in the area of inclusion of autistic children in PA. Three rounds of questionnaires were distributed to the panel of 22 experts, aiming to reach consensus on a series of topics related to the inclusion of autistic children in community-based PA programmes (consensus ⩾67% agreement). Topics included coaches and volunteers, programme characteristics, and bridging sessions. Sixteen consensus statements were established which were then used to create the ‘STARTS’ recommendations, which centre around: (1) Skill development, (2) Training for coaches/volunteers, (3) Aims for sessions, (4) Resources to improve children’s experiences, (5) Transitioning from bridging programmes to mainstream programmes, and (6) Supports to improve inclusion. The STARTS recommendations will assist clubs/organisations when setting up or modifying community-based PA programmes which include autistic children.
Supervisor
Description
Publisher
Sage
Citation
Autism, pp. 1– 14
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Files
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Funding code
Funding Information
Sustainable Development Goals
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License
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International