Play and Disability: How Children With Disabilities Develop Through Play

Introduction: Disability and the Importance of Play

A child is said to have a disability when he or she exhibits some limitation in physical, sensory, cognitive, speech, language, communication, or social functions. Such impairments vary in severity depending on the extent to which core mobility, self-care activities, and communication are affected. Statistics indicate that about 4% of children in developed countries aged between 0 and 5 years live with a disability, and the majority of these are boys. Normally, as children develop, they find much joy in playing, either alone or with others. Children's play takes different forms, including object, locomotor, pretense, language, and socio-dramatic play. For a child with a disability, all these forms of play may not be practically possible (Jenvey, 2013).

Children with disabilities have different characteristics, each unique from the others. It therefore becomes quite difficult to address them in general terms, even on the specific topic of play. Researchers have conducted extensive study in this area, looking primarily at the effects of disability on play development in children, as well as how physical and social interventions can affect that development (Buchanan & Johnson, 2009).

Play is one vital element in the healthy development of a child, and it is equally important for children with disabilities. It helps create a strong bond between parent and child, helps children learn in a relaxed and enjoyable environment, and helps children form attachments to siblings and others around them. Parents should therefore make a genuine effort to play with their child in order to strengthen their relationship and support the child through his or her disability. Many parents hold the notion that time spent playing with children could be better used for other activities — this mindset should change. Therapists urge parents to give their children the opportunity for play, and most importantly, to play what the child wants, because that is what the child is most eager to learn (Doheny, 2010).

Types of Play and Their Developmental Value

As children play, an adult is able to observe how the child understands both the physical and social world. There are two especially important types of play that young children should be encouraged to engage in: coordinated symbolic play and replica play (also known as theme play).

Replica play involves children recreating real-life situations with toys. For instance, a child may load a toy bus with little dolls, drive the bus to school, and let the dolls alight. A child may also load a toy pickup truck with plastic food, drive it to the market, and offload. Such play instills a sense of sequence in children, which is vital for their literacy development. An adult can apply a number of strategies to increase the effectiveness of replica play. The first is to provide high-realism toys that reflect things the child encounters every day. Common child experiences — such as shopping, going to school, house play, and snack time — can be replicated with items such as dishes, plastic food, a pan, a lunch box, and similar objects. The adult should arrange them in a creative and visually appealing way, because children may not be able to plan out the theme on their own. Once the child sees the display, the intended theme will naturally unfold (Frost, Wortham, & Reifel, 2001).

Another useful resource for replica play is the "structured toy." These come with a pre-designed theme that children find easy to understand. Good examples are the Fisher-Price Garage and the Brio Railroad Set. It is easier for a child to assemble Brio train tracks and then add the train and station than to build a rail track from basic building blocks. The adult should then help the child stay focused on the play theme — mostly through comments, or "talking in the air," since no verbal response from the child is expected. For example, an adult might say: "That train is going very fast! I wonder if it will ever stop! The children are playing happily. The children are taking a rest." This keeps the child engaged with the play without the adult directing every action (Frost, Wortham, & Reifel, 2001).

The second type is coordinated symbolic play, in which the child uses an action or an object to represent something else. A child may use a biro pen as a toothbrush, or pretend to drink water out of cupped hands. Such symbolic play skills cannot be directly taught, so a child who engages in them demonstrates an advanced level of thinking. Children can also mimic what they see adults do, which means the adult should be creative and skillful in modeling behaviors — for example, using a tiny cube as a jar of mustard and pouring it onto a plastic hamburger (Frost, Wortham, & Reifel, 2001).

Caregiver Strategies for Supporting Play

A given disability may limit a child's movements and thus affect his or her ability or willingness to play. The child may find it difficult to manipulate materials constructively or even move toward the materials he or she wants to engage with. Without meaningful play, the child misses opportunities to develop problem-solving skills — which arise largely through trial and error — and struggles to form meaningful relationships. In such cases, an adult must intelligently provide guidance and support so that the child can actively participate. One effective approach is the use of switch-adapted materials that the child can easily and readily access (Buchanan & Johnson, 2009).

References

Buchanan, M., & Johnson, T. G. (2009). A second look at the play of young children with disabilities. American Journal of Play, 2(1), 41–59.

Doheny, K. (2010). Playtime for children with physical disabilities. Retrieved October 20, 2018, from https://www.webmd.com/children/features/playtime-physical-disabilities#1

Frost, J. L., Wortham, S. C., & Reifel, R. S. (2001). Play and child development. Merrill, Prentice Hall.

Jenvey, V. D. (2013). Play and disability. Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Development. Retrieved October 20, 2018, from http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/play/according-experts/play-and-disability