How Parents Perceive and Feel about Participation in Community Activities

Abstract

The present study compared how parents of preschoolers with and without Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) perceived and felt about participation in community activities. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 380 Hong Kong parents of preschoolers with ASD and 214 Hong Kong parents of preschoolers without ASD. The two groups were not different in their willingness and frequency of participation in community activities. However, the psychological processes underneath their willingness were very different. Among the parents of preschoolers with ASD, their willingness was associated with how they perceived the difficulty and importance of the participation and what emotions they experienced during the activities. This pattern of association was not evident among the parents of preschoolers without ASD.

The Relationship between Affiliate Stigma in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Children’s Activity Participation

“…The results indicate an insignificant relationship between the parents' affiliate stigma and the frequency of their children's participation, which does not fully match our hypotheses that affiliate stigma might lead to reduced participation in community activities. Our findings, however, may be reflected in a study by Lam et al [23], in which the parents of preschoolers with ASD showed high levels of negative emotion and low willingness to take their children out, and these two variables were found to have no association with the participation frequency in community activities. One reason for the similarity in findings between our study and that of Lam et al could be that participation in some community activities is habitual (or obligatory) for the children and families.…”

“…In fact, for preschool-aged children with ASD, the family plays a crucial role in determining the type and number of activities in which the children will be given opportunities for participation [22]. For example, Lam and her colleagues [23] found that parents' willingness to take their child with ASD to engage in community activities was associated with the degree of difficulty and negative emotions of the children as perceived by the parents. However, this association was not observed in children with typical development.…”

“…To fill the knowledge gap, the current study aimed to investigate whether the parents' affiliate stigma was related to activity participation of their child, aged 26 years with ASD. Based on existing evidence [5,23], we hypothesized that affiliate stigma in parents of preschool-aged children with ASD would have negative associations with their child's participation in community activities, which involve social interaction with other children and adults, but not in home or daycare/preschool activities that are solitarily or with assistance from teachers who are familiar to children.…”

Activity Participation Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Preschoolers with ASD have been found to participate less frequently in self-care, community mobility, vigorous leisure, and sedentary leisure than do children with typical development (LeVesser & Berg, 2011). Caregivers of preschool children with ASD report less frequent and less diverse activity participation (Lam, Wong, Leung, Ho, & Au-Yeung, 2010). Special event activities, such as birthday parties and family vacations, have also been reported as less frequent among preschool and school-age children with ASD (Rodger & Umaibalan, 2011).…”

Parent and Family Outcomes of PEERS: A Social Skills Intervention for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…The presence of emotional strain and relationship difficulties likely make it more difficult for children with ASD to learn appropriate social behaviors, as more maladaptive interactions are modeled by caregivers who are frequently engaged in conflict. An increase in family conflict may also create a barrier to participating in enjoyable and potentially beneficial activities, as families of children with ASD have been found to limit involvement in community activities (Lam et al 2010). Notably, Kelly et al (2008) noted that family conflict was predictive of ASD symptom presentation and found that negative family relationships influenced ASD symptom manifestation more than positive family interactions.…”