Participation patterns of school-aged children with and without DCD Tal Jarus a,1, *, Yael Lourie-Gelberg b,2 , Batya Engel-Yeger c , Orit Bart d a Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, CanDo Research Centre, University of British Columbia, T-325 – Third Floor, Koerner Pavilion, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 2B5 b Clinical Educational Center, Hof Hacarmel, Israel c Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel d Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Professions, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel 1. Introduction Participation is a person’s engagement and inclusion in various activities, environments, roles and life situations. In the classification of the World Health Organization (WHO, 2001), there is a distinction between participation and activity; participation is the involvement of a person in various life situations, and activity is the person’s execution of a task or activity. There are several factors that influence participation in children including their abilities and their physical and social environments (Case-Smith, 2005; Chen & Cohn, 2003; King et al., 2003; Law, 2002; Law et al., 2002). The child’s characteristics, which influence one’s participation, include, among others, skills (motor, process, and communication), Research in Developmental Disabilities 32 (2011) 1323–1331 ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 30 March 2010 Received in revised form 5 January 2011 Accepted 16 January 2011 Available online 15 February 2011 Keywords: Developmental co-ordination disorder Participation Community Child Health ABSTRACT Participation is recognized as a key to one’s health and well-being and is considered to be a vital part of the development of children and youth. The purpose of this study was to examine the participation patterns of children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) in their out-of-school-time (OST) activities, and to see whether there is a relationship between the children’s motor abilities and their choices and participation. Methods: 50 children (5–7 years old), 25 who met diagnostic criteria of DCD and 25 without DCD, completed the Children Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) and were administered the Motor Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) and the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI). Results: A relationship was found between participation patterns and motor ability. Children with DCD had limited participation diversity in which they participated less frequently, and chose activities that were quieter and more socially isolated compared to children without DCD; there were no differences in their levels of enjoyment. Conclusions: The present study emphasizes the importance of looking at the children’s participation from a broad perspective, and the many difficulties children with DCD experience in OST participation. Future studies might consider other factors (e.g., environment) while examining participation among children with DCD. ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 604 827 3392; fax: +1 604 822 7624. E-mail addresses: Tal.jarus@ubc.ca (T. Jarus), yaellg@netvision.net.il (Y. Lourie-Gelberg), hyeger@bezeqint.net (B. Engel-Yeger), o_bart@bezeqint.net (O. Bart). 1 This author was at the Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Professions, Faculty of Medical, of Tel Aviv University at the time of the study. 2 This author was a graduate student at the Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Professions, Faculty of Medical, of Tel Aviv University at the time of the study. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Developmental Disabilities 0891-4222/$ – see front matter ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.01.033