New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline - Ministry of Health

Part 5: Living in the community
Part 5
The Department of Recreation and Leisure,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,
and the Department of Psychiatry from
Division TEACCH (two nationally recognised
programmes in the United States) collaborated
on Project Autism, to conduct a three-year
project which identified the support required to
address recreation and leisure needs of people
with ASD 374 . The project found that participating
in recreation can help people with ASD to:
• expand their interests
• develop/improve their communication skills
• explore or expand their knowledge
• improve their cognitive functioning
• be with, interact with, and build friendships
with others
• make leisure choices
• help others, and be able to contribute to home
and community, including volunteering and
opportunities to provide for others
• enhance self-control
• follow rules, directions and procedures
• gain others’ respect
• enjoy completing and mastering things
• improve their physical functioning
• keep in shape physically
• relax physically and emotionally
• learn and improve coping skills
• heighten self-awareness and self-esteem
• promote community integration
• increase their life and leisure satisfaction.
Project Autism also identified a number of
sources of information as useful for completing
an assessment to identify the support that
people with ASD will need to make leisure and
recreation choices. These sources included:
• verbal self-reporting
• information gathered from a variety of
sources, including everyone who interacts
with the person
• observation.
Project Autism produced a manual, which
included a section describing the steps and
processes to help an individual with ASD
become involved in a recreation activity of
choice. These steps included:
• personal strengths
• goals and wishes
• approaches to learning – where a child or
young person has communication difficulties,
using concrete items such as pictures or
photos, choice boards, social stories and
observation of the individual can identify
leisure interests and provide a means of
evaluating satisfaction
• leisure interests and satisfaction to support
future planning – use of vocabulary with
which the individual is familiar; evaluation of
the level of satisfaction of the individual
• meaningful routines including a balance
of leisure, work, self-care and other
commitments
• use of resources found in the home and wider
community
• identifying who is responsible for recreation
initiation and planning.
5.2.a Barriers to participation in leisure
and recreation pursuits
People with disabilities who do not take part in
sport and leisure activities may become isolated,
lonely and miss out on activities which are
fun and which provide opportunities to make
friends and learn new skills 375 .
Findings from three separate studies have
identified a number of common barriers
preventing participation in family and
community activities, and these studies have
informed both the New Zealand and United
Kingdom governments’ strategies for promoting
social inclusion for people with an intellectual
disability 375-377 . The studies reported that key
barriers preventing participation include:
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New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline