Pickle Squad: Intervention Protocol for Adolescents and Young Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD)

Abstract

Nurturing self-determination, promoting intrinsic motivation, and exercising control of their lives should be important outcomes of sport programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This protocol presents Pickle Squad, a pickleball recreational therapy intervention for eight adolescents and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities delivered by a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS®). The purpose of Pickle Squad was to cultivate the participants’ self-determination and promote the development of sport-specific pickleball skills; this small group intervention applied the recreational therapy process (i.e., APIED) in the delivery of an 8-session program. Each participant completed one pickleball skills assessment and one self-determination assessment pre and post intervention. Individual and group goals and objectives were developed for participants. Each session lasted two hours and started with lessons and activities focused on self-determination, followed by lessons and drills targeting pickleball skills, and concluded with processing. Progress notes were documented for each participant. Evaluation results via single sample t-tests revealed that overall participants increased their self-determination t(7) = 2.61, p = .035. and developed sport-specific pickleball skills, t(7) = 4.77, p = .00. By conventional criteria, t-test results obtained were statistically significant. A discussion with limitations and implications for practice and research is included. In conclusion, this protocol suggested that self-determination levels could be increased through a pickleball intervention focused on self-determination and sport-specific pickleball skills.