Friday, December 10, 2010

Free Play and Feeling Included

Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly published interesting research on children's feelings about being included. The researcher, Dr. Nancy Spencer-Cavaliere, interviewed 11 children with a range of disabilities including cerebral palsy, motor delays, DCD and more. Three themes were seen throughout the interviews regarding the children's perspective on sports, games and play:

1. Gaining entry to play - initiating play can be difficult
2. Feeling like a legitimate participant - children wanted meaningful roles in play
3. Having friends - wanted a friend they could depend on and trust so they could feel accepted

Dr. Nancy Spencer-Cavaliere also mentioned that the children never mentioned "physical education classes when discussing feeling included". She recommends when in doubt about inclusion be sure to ask the children.

Read previous blog post on including all kids.

Reference: Physorg.com Feeling included -- kids with disabilities have their say in landmark study. Retrieved from the web on 12/10/2010 at http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-kids-disabilities-landmark.html

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