title: Can you see it too? Observed and self-rated participation in mainstream schools in students with and without autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the degree to which observations can capture perception of participation, observed and self-rated levels of interactions for students with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were explored.
  
  
  METHODS
  Frequencies and levels of involvement in interactions with classmates were observed and compared in 22 students with ASD and 84 of their classmates in mainstream schools, using a standardized protocol. Self-reported participation measurements regarding interactions with classmates and teachers from five questionnaire items were correlated with the observations. In total, 51,516 data points were coded and entered into the analyses, and correlated with 530 questionnaire ratings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only one weak correlation was found in each group. Compared with classmates, students with ASD participated less frequently, but were not less involved when they actually did.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Observations alone do not capture the individuals' perception of participation and are not sufficient if the subjective aspect of participation is to be measured.
authors.affiliation: a School of Education and Communication, CHILD Programme, Institute of Disability Research, Jönköping University , Jönköping , Sweden .|b Department of Education , Municipality Council of Norrköping , Sweden .|c School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University , Perth , WA , Australia .
authors.forename: Marita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Falkmer
authors.affiliation: c School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University , Perth , WA , Australia .
authors.forename: Kirsty
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oehlers
authors.affiliation: d CHILD Programme, School of Health Sciences, Institute of Disability Research, Jönköping University , Jönköping , Sweden .
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Granlund
authors.affiliation: c School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University , Perth , WA , Australia .|e School of Occupational Therapy, La Trobe University , Melbourne , Victoria , Australia , and.|f Division of Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Medicine and Health Sciences (IMH), Faculty of Health Sciences , Linköping University & Pain and Rehabilitation Centre, UHL, County Council , Linköping , Sweden.
authors.forename: Torbjörn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Falkmer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D057566:Self Report; D058992:Social Participation; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Autism; COP; involvement; multi-methodological design; observations; questionnaires