TABLE 1.

Table of included studies.

Authors and year	Title	Aim	Study population and method used	Setting	Country	Barriers to participation	Facilitators to participation
Bantjes et al. (2015a)†	Developing programmes to promote participation in sport amongst adolescents with disabilities: perceptions expressed by a group of South African adolescents with cerebral palsy	To understand what a group of adolescents with cerebral palsy living in South Africa perceive to be important components of programmes developed to increase their participation in sport	Adolescents aged 12–18 (n = 15) with CP In depth interview. Data analyse interpretative Phenomenological analysis	Special needs school	South Africa	Social barriers Environmental barriers Policy and programme barriers	Environmental facilitators
Bantjes et al. (2015b)†	“There is soccer but we have to watch”: the embodied consequences of theories of inclusion for South African children with cerebral palsy	To explore the lived experiences of children with cerebral palsy and their involvement in physical activity	Adolescents aged 12–18(n = 15) with CP, One principal, one teacher and one physiotherapist Ethnographic research Interview Field notes to document observations and informal interactions with staff and pupils	Special needs school	South Africa	Personal barriers Social barriers Environmental barriers	-
Bunning et al. (2014)	Caregiver Perceptions of Children who have Complex communication needs following a home-based intervention using Augmentative and alternative communication in rural Kenya: An intervention note	To investigate preliminary evidence of the impact associated with a home-based, caregiver-implemented intervention employing Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) methods, who have complex communication needs	Children aged 4–12 (n = 9) with CP, autism, intellectual disability, hearing impairment. Complex communication needs and their main caregivers Ethnographic research Interview Field notes to document observations and informal interactions with staff and pupils	At the children’s home	Kenya	-	Social facilitators
Columna et al. (2015)	Recreational physical activity experiences amongst Guatemalan families with children with visual impairments	To explore the experiences of Latino families of children with visual impairments living in Guatemala regarding physical recreation	Children aged 5–18 (n = 13) with visual impairments Interviews with parents, analysed trough a constant comparative analysis	Sports camp	Guatemala	Personal Environmental barriers	Environmental facilitators
Conchar et al. (2016)	Barriers and facilitators to participation in physical activity: The experiences of a group of South African adolescents with cerebral palsy	To explore the experiences of a group of South African adolescents with cerebral palsy	Adolescents aged 12–18 (n = 15) with CP In depth semi-structured interviews	Special needs school	South Africa	Personal Environmental barriers	Personal facilitators Social facilitators Environmental facilitators
Cuhadar and Diken (2011)	Effectiveness of instruction performed through activity schedules on leisure Social facilitators skills of children with Autism. Education and training in autism and developmental disabilities	To investigate the influences of instruction performed through activity schedules on engaging in the schedule skill and fulfilling the activity skills of pre-school children with autism	Pre-school children aged 4–6 (n = 3) with autism An intervention that was video recorded	A special education and rehabilitation centre	Turkey		Environmental facilitators
Du et al. (2016)	Relevant Areas of Functioning in People with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: The Patients’ Perspective	To investigate relevant aspects of functioning and disability, and environmental factors in people with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis according to patients’ self-reports based on the ICF-CY	975 children aged 12–18 with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis Semi-structured interviews	In hospitals	China	Environmental barriers	Social facilitators
Frantz et al. (2011)	Physical activity and sport as a tool to include disabled children in Kenyan schools	To determine the physical activity levels of disabled and non-disabled children at schools in selected provinces in Kenya	Children aged 14–19 (n = 599 of these 234 with physical disability and 365 without disability) Self-rating using a questionnaire	Three high Schools that offering inclusive education and three government boarding high schools	Kenya	Personal Social barriers Environmental barriers	Personal facilitators Social facilitators
Glumac et al. (2009)	Guatemalan caregivers’ perceptions of receiving and using wheelchairs donated for their children	To explore the experiences, perceptions, and needs of caregivers receiving wheelchairs donated for non-ambulatory children in a less-resourced country	Children aged 4,1–15,7 (n = 14) with CP, Myelomeningocele, Rh Incompatibility, Severe psychomotor retardation Interviews with children (n = 5), and with caregivers	Home settings (n = 13) Childs therapy setting (n = 1)	Guatemala	Environmental barriers	Environmental facilitators
Hansen et al. (2014)	A qualitative study: Barriers and support for participation for children with disabilities	To understand how mothers of children with physical and cognitive disabilities who engaged their children in community-based rehabilitation services perceived and described the level of support they received and the barriers they encountered in terms of their children’s meaningful participation	Children aged 2–21 years (n = 11). Physical and cognitive disabilities. Semi-structured interviews with each mother	At the children’s home	Zambia	Social barriers Environmental barriers	Environmental facilitators
Hui et al. (2018)	Gendered experience of inclusive education for children with disabilities in west and east Africa.	Explored the perspectives of community members, police, stakeholders, and children with and without disabilities in order to understand the gendered experience of children with disabilities in west and east Africa	Children in school age (n = 30) with disabilities and without disabilities (n = 10). Community members 53 (adults) Policy programme stakeholders 19 (adults) Semi structured interviews and focus group discussions	School	Guinea, Sierra Leone, Togo, Niger, Zambia, Malawi	Social barriers Environmental barriers	Environmental facilitators
McConkey et al. (2013)	Promoting social inclusion through unified sports for youths with intellectual disabilities: a five-nation study	To evaluate the outcomes from one sports programme with particular reference to the processes that were perceived to enhance social inclusion	In five countries individual interviews were conducted with five athletes with disabilities, five partners and five coaches, five parents Four head teachers at schools and local politicians Face-to-face interviews based on a standard topic guide Teachers and politician: Group interviews with four teams in country	In a location nearby the sport centre	Germany, Hungary, Poland, Serbia and Ukraine	Social barriers	Social facilitators Environmental facilitators
Memari et al. (2015)	Children with autism spectrum disorder and patterns of participation in daily physical and play activities	To assess the participation of a school-based sample with Autism in physical and daily activities	Children aged 6–15 (n = 83) with autism Questionnaire to the parents and to teachers	At the children’s home and school	Iran	Personal Environmental barriers	-
Mudyahoto and Dakwa (2012)	An analysis of the level of participation in sport by learners with disability in inclusive settings	To discuss the extent to which learners with disabilities participate in sport within inclusive settings	Children in school age (n = 30) with disabilities like visual impairment, hearing impairment and physical disability Questionnaires with children and teachers (n = 20). Interviews with head of institutions and sport masters	School	Zimbabwe	Environmental barriers	-
Mizunoya et al. (2018)	Disability and school attendance in 15 low- and middle-income countries.	To investigate if children with disabilities are systematically more at risk of being out of school in low and middle-income countries and if yes, because of what factors	15 developing countries Used nationally representative dataset from different countries	Register study	Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Albania, Saint Lucia, West bank Gaza, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda	Social barriers Environmental barriers	-
Nelson et al. (2017)	The meaning of participation for children in Malawi: Insights from children and caregivers	To explore what participation means for children (including those with and without disability) in rural Northern Malawi	Children aged 8–18 with disabilities (n = 14), children without disabilities(n = 17) Individual interviews focus groups and participatory groups Data from children, professionals and carers	Not specified	Malawi	Social barriers	Social facilitators Environmental facilitators
Vosloo (2009)	The functioning of primary school learners with paraplegia/ paraparesis in mainstream schools in western cape, South Africa.	This study explores the reality of implementing policy guidelines that promote the inclusion of learners with disabilities in mainstream schools	Children aged 6–14 (n = 15) with paraplegia/ paraparesis The Craig handicap assessment and reporting technique were used Proxy data from parents and teaching staff	Mainstream schools	South Africa	Environmental barriers Policy and programme barriers	-

ICF-CY, International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and Child and Youth Version

^†, Combined individually published studies that have the same study participants.