Physical Activity Participation among Adolescent Boys with Autism Spectrum Disorder
The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the physical activity (PA) participation of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as they are reported to be less active than their age-related peers. Driven by Norbert Elias’ Figurational Sociology, this study explored the lives and perspectives of a group of adolescent boys with ASD, and examined how their PA participation was mediated by wider social, cultural, institutional norms, values, and beliefs (socio-cultural processes). The objective was to understand how the identified socio-cultural processes interacted with bio-physical and psycho-behavioural processes to enhance, shape, and curtail their participation. A critical qualitative study using a multi-method design was used where 10 adolescent boys with ASD participated in two face-to-face interviews, and each created a digital story. Findings of this study make three substantive contributions to the literature on PA participation. First, data generated with participants added novel, rich, and in-depth descriptions of PA participation, and preliminary insights into the daily lives of adolescents with ASD. Second, in examining the daily lives of participants, findings highlight that PA was not merely a behaviour determined at the level of the individual. The analysis illuminated how PA was shaped by wider social values, norms and assumptions about ASD, and by practices, and interactions within particular PA spaces. These socio-cultural processes in turn influenced the (conscious and unconscious) choices and preferences made by participants in their particular social contexts, and shaped their habitus toward PA (dis)engagement. Finally, socio-cultural processes do not exist, or function in isolation. Rather, the study demonstrated how the interaction of bio-physical, psycho-behavioural, and socio-cultural processes interact to enhance, shape and curtail PA participation in numerous ways. These findings illuminate the complexity of PA participation, add nuance to the understanding of (in)activity, and highlight the need to consider these interdependent relationships when studying, conceptualizing and developing PA programs, opportunities, and interventions.
autism spectrum disorder, Norbert Elias, physical activity, qualitative research
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