Playing with children with disabilities

The term disability refers to a lack of ability on a specific branch, but does not mean that the child is a disabled person. As proclaimed in 1959 the General Assembly of the United Nations and ratified in 1990 the Spanish Parliament, play is a right of children and adults we must ensure they are implemented in each and every one of the boys and girls, although in some situations are serious difficulties in the development of this activity . Sometimes children with disabilities can use the toy market, but on many other occasions the accessibility of play materials for these children is reduced or absent. When the toy can not be used by these children as it is marketed, it is sometimes possible to vary the objectives and rules of the game or make some modifications to allow a greater use of the toy. These adaptations can be simple or require the intervention of specialists in the field (for example, translate the sound effects of a toy visual effects). There are various types of disabilities (motor, intellectual, sensory ...) and with very different levels of involvement. This diversity creates a great difficulty to provide global assessments or advice relating to the selection and adaptation of toys for these children.

Tips for playing with your child with disabilities

1 - For the game development of children with disabilities is vital that the design of toys is "for all", so that children with and without disabilities can use the same games in similar conditions. In this way he could unify the one hand, the integration process of children with disabilities in the game who do not, and moreover, the development of standardized toy play cut differentiation from other children.

2 - It is important to choose toys that allow more versatile forms of interaction and that they can change the rules. Thus, it will be easier to adapt the proposed recreational toy to the circumstances of each case. 3 - The play materials used by older children should be age appropriate even if they are in an earlier stage of development. For example, if we provide an activity center handling a child with motor disabilities 10 years we will have to adapt their size and gaming proposals that child, certainly not serve us an activity center for babies who usually use. 4 - It is important to know that there are safety standards for the manufacture of toys and we must ensure that the adaptations we make in them will not pose any danger. It is therefore important to always consult with a specialist. 5 - It is imperative to consult with your pediatrician or medical specialist concerned, in case the child is carrying out a rehabilitation program, since this type of professional will certainly help us assess the suitability of each proposed game adaptation or the needs of each child in particular. 6 - Sometimes children with disabilities are learning rates than those of other children, so it is important to question and adapt the old instructions are provided on the toy.