Participation in everyday school activities for children with and without disabilities

Children with disabilities attending regular school often need more support than other children in order to participate in different school activities. Are children with disabilities included and do they participate in the same activities as their peers? During one school day, 66 children, 33 children with disabilities, were observed at school. After school the children were interviewed about participation in school activities and their social networks and they self-rated their autonomy. The results showed that children with disabilities have lower participation both in structured and unstructured activities. In structured activities differences existed primarily in math, practical subjects, and science. Children with disabilities had fewer friends and rated their autonomy lower. The difference in participation for children with and without disabilities is context specific; it indicates that professionals need to consider context specificity in developing interventions to increase participation.