The extent, context and experience of participation in out-of-school activities among children with disability.

Shields et al. (2015) asked parents of children with disability to fill out the CAPE/PAC forms. The forms list 55 after-school activities like sports, clubs, and play dates. Parents said how often their child did each one.

The team looked at kids with intellectual disability and other mixed diagnoses. They wanted to know how many activities the kids joined and what predicted variety.

Children joined about half of the 55 activities two or three times a month. The child’s own liking for the activity and how severe their challenges were predicted variety. The exact diagnosis mattered less.

In plain words: what kids want to do beats the label on their file.

Woodmansee et al. (2016) used the same Australian dataset but added matched typically-developing peers. They found kids with disability joined fewer activities and liked them less. The two papers agree: preference drives participation, yet gaps still exist.

Bao et al. (2017) looked only at teens with autism plus ID. They found these teens joined as many types of activities as teens with ID alone, but were less involved once there. Social demands, not lack of interest, kept them out. The picture is consistent: preference opens the door, social complexity can close it.

Lin et al. (2026) studied a whole country’s registry of youth with ASD. They showed speech and mental impairments limited joining, while caregiver help and friendly community attitudes boosted it. Again, child factors and support matter more than the diagnosis itself.

Before you write an after-school goal, give the CAPE or simply ask, “What do you want to do?” Use the answer to pick activities, then add supports for social or communication needs. This small shift puts the child’s voice first and may widen their world more than any label-based program.