"It takes two to play" : Reflections on play in children with multiple disabilities

• Research on play accelerated and had a breakthrough in the 1980s but during the last decades it has been a backlash in the interest for play research. If we take play in children with multiple disabilities into consideration it is even more obvious that the topic has, to a great extent, been neglected and not been highlighted equally often in research. This article focuses on play in children with multiple disabilities and takes an interdisciplinary perspective.  The main question is ‘What does play mean for children with the most multiple disabilities?’. The article is based on previous studies on play with a qualitative approach, where play observations and interviews with persons in the child’s immediate environment, i.e. parents and early childhood staff, have dominated. The theoretical approach is interactionistic and partly based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of human development. In this article play and toys for enhancement of child development is discussed. The result shows that play can constitute a tool for development of a diversity of skills in these children, provided that the child has a good support from persons around. However joyful play also has a value per se for children with disabilities. The conclusion is that the role of adults as supporters and interaction partners in children’s play is extremely important, and it takes two to play for children with multiple disabilities.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Play

right to play

toys

participation

children with multiple disabilities

social inclusion

role of adults

communication

qualitative studies

interactionistic approach

specialpedagogik

Special Education

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)