Recess for Students With Extensive Support Needs: A Missed Opportunity for Meaningful Inclusion

Recess is a critical opportunity for building social competence and friendships, but students with extensive support needs can only experience these benefits if they are meaningfully included. In this observational study, we found that 52 elementary students with extensive support needs experienced far fewer social interactions (d = 2.01), engaged in much lower rates of peer play (d = 2.34), and spent far less time in proximity to peers (d = 1.33) when compared to typically developing children. Many students (39%) did not consistently attend an inclusive recess with same-aged peers. Furthermore, students were poorly connected to their grade-level social networks based on a peer nomination task. These findings demonstrate that being present at recess—in the absence of support and intervention—is unlikely to translate into full participation and shared experiences. We urge schools to better support students at recess, and policymakers to hold schools accountable for equal access to inclusive recess.