Determinants and challenges in physical activity participation in families with children with high functioning autism spectrum disorders from a family systems perspective.
Families of kids with HFASD face social, safety, and community-awareness walls that drive highly variable child activity and very low parent activity.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Cox et al. (2015) talked with families who have a child with high-functioning autism.
They asked how much physical activity kids and parents get each week.
They also asked what makes moving together easy or hard.
What they found
Kids’ activity ranged from 85 to 405 minutes a week—some very low, some high.
Parents moved even less, only 6 to 53 minutes a week.
Families said social-skills gaps, fear of bullying, and unaware coaches block activity.
How this fits with other research
Miltenberger et al. (2013) saw equal minutes of moderate-vigorous motion when they used watches, but parents still reported fewer kinds of activities. The new study explains why: parents notice social and safety hurdles the watches miss.
Jean-Arwert et al. (2020) later counted less daily activity in a big sample of boys with ASD. The 2015 interviews previewed those numbers by showing the family-level reasons.
Columna et al. (2020) interviewed Hispanic families and added culture and tight schedules as extra blocks. Together the two qualitative studies say barriers pile up—autism challenges first, then culture and logistics.
Why it matters
You can scan for the same barriers in your clients: social-skill deficits, bullying risk, and clueless staff. Build a quick parent checklist of local inclusive programs, peer-mentor options, and quiet time slots. Small steps—like a coach who greets the child by name—can raise family confidence and minutes moved.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The underlying factors affecting physical activity (PA) participation of children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs) and their family members were investigated using a mixed method research design. Six families with children with HFASD aged 4 through 13 participated in the study. Findings revealed that levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in children with HFASD varied between 85 min and 405 min for seven days. Parents of children with HFASD in this study were inactive (levels of MVPA varied between 6 min and 53 min) during this period. Qualitative data from parents highlighted many essential issues. Those issues are categorized under three main themes: (a) understanding PA in children with HFASD, (b) living with a child with HFASD, and (c) awareness of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at school and community settings. Social skills, issues related to bullying, fear of injury to the child, as well as support from family members and lack of understanding of the disability emerged as subthemes extracted from these data.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2015 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2015.08.015