The Participation of Secondary Students With Severe Disabilities in School Clubs.
Watch the room first, then pair the student with friendly peers and light adult support.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Thomas et al. (2021) talked with high-school students who have severe disabilities.
They asked about joining school clubs like chess, drama, or robotics.
The team looked for common stories across the teens’ experiences.
What they found
Four clear themes popped out.
Kids said they just “went with the flow” when peers led the way.
They hit social obstacles, got uneven adult help, and felt safer when several friends were there.
How this fits with other research
Reyes et al. (2019) tested a program called Unified Clubs and saw real gains in peer acceptance.
Their numbers back up the happy side of R’s story: inclusive clubs can work.
Horgan et al. (2023) asked autistic teens about everyday high-school life.
Those students called the whole place “socially overwhelming,” which sounds opposite to R’s “going with the flow.”
The gap is mostly method: Finbar looked at hallways and cafeterias, while R watched clubs where shared interests already lower stress.
Gilmore et al. (2022) reviewed group social-skills classes and found they boost social knowledge but rarely change real-life hanging out.
R’s club data help explain why: teens need the safety of numbers and peer-led spaces, not just adult-run lessons.
Why it matters
You can’t just place a student in a club and walk away.
Visit first, note which peers naturally greet your client, then seat the student near them.
Offer light coaching at the edge of the activity, not in the center.
If the club feels big, create a two-friend pod so the teen starts with “safety in numbers.”
These small moves turn after-school time into real social practice.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine how secondary students with severe disabilities (i.e., severe intellectual disability or autism, multiple disabilities) participate in extracurricular school clubs. Using a qualitative multiple case design, the experiences of three high school students were examined. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and document reviews. A single-case inductive open-coding strategy was utilized across all data sources in which codes and categories emerged, and a final cross-case thematic evaluation was conducted. The cross-case thematic analysis resulted in the following four overarching themes: (a) going with the flow; (b) social obstacles: on the outside looking in; (c) supports provided: too much, too little, just right; and (d) safety in numbers.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2021 · doi:10.1352/1934-9556-59.4.335