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Outdoor play is important for children's development and an area in which many children with disabilities struggle at school. The aim of this multiple-perspective case study was to understand educator play decision-making for children with disabilities within one low socioeconomic status and culturally and linguistically diverse community. Data collection included playground observations of children with disabilities and educators and interviews with teaching assistants, teachers, and a vice principal. Data were analysed inductively and thematically, with findings aligned to the capabilities approach. School staff and typically developing children appeared to not value the children with disabilities as players or learners, and had a limited understanding of the children's home and community play environments. School staff had low expectations of children with disabilities' play and learning capacities. Participants perceived children's playground presence and not breaking rules as sufficient. Despite educators stating that children with disabilities had choice on the playground, the children experienced few meaningful choices due to relative skills delays and an unsupportive environment. Applying the capabilities approach may lead to greater choice through valuing all children as learners, players, and community members; raising play and learning expectations; and creating play spaces that support the play of all children.

Parents are often concerned about managing risks for their children, particularly in the context of disability. This paper reports qualitative findings from an intervention study and examines how parents of children with developmental disabilities (mainly autism) manage risks during play. Interviews (n = 17) highlighted parents' fears about their child's safety, which were often exacerbated by concerns about the child's (lack of) cognitive and intellectual capabilities to 'appropriately' negotiate harms. Outdoor play and play that involved other children were reported as particularly challenging. In these contexts, parents described how they would intervene and redirect play activities to avoid any emergent physical, emotional and social harms. The social aspects of risk and disability gave way to adult-mediated and controlled forms of play. We conclude by considering opportunities to support the full inclusion of children with disabilities and their rights to play. Play is an important aspect of all children's health and development Children with disabilities often experience fewer opportunities to engage in play Parents responses to 'risk-taking' in their children's play help understand the barriers to play for children with a disability Social aspects of play are particularly challenging for parents of a child with disability Developing socially inclusive contexts is important to enhance all children's opportunities to play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Play is a right for children; an essential childhood occupation influenced by their family environment. Despite increasing recognition of unstructured outdoor play benefits, children with disabilities experience limited play opportunities. Aim: To apply a capabilities approach lens to understand outdoor play decision-making by mothers of children with disabilities within a culturally and linguistically diverse community. Materials and methods: Data collection for this case study involved semi-structured interviews with five mothers of primary school-aged children with disabilities and a week-long survey that profiled their children's outdoor play. Analysis was thematic and involved identifying barriers and opportunities at each ecocultural layer, aggregating strategies families used to address the barriers, and understanding their overall play decision-making. Findings: Mothers considered the child's interests and abilities, valued play as both a means and ends, planned for play, and facilitated in the moment as required. Multiple factors influenced mothers' outdoor play decisions. Mothers' values were child-centred, positively influencing the child's play opportunities. Conclusion and significance: This study's capabilities lens could inform professions such as occupational therapy to support families of children with disabilities from culturally diverse communities to advocate for play opportunities across settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite indisputable developmental benefits of outdoor play, children with disabilities can experience play inequity. Play decisions are multifactorial; influenced by children's skills and their familial and community environments. Government agencies have responsibilities for equity and inclusion of people with disabilities; including in play. Aim: This multiple-perspective case study aimed to understand outdoor play decision-making for children with disabilities from the perspectives and interactions of: local government and families of primary school-aged children with disabilities. Material and method: Five mothers, four local government employees, and two not-for-profit organization representatives participated in semi-structured interviews. Inductive and iterative analyzes involved first understanding perspectives of individuals, then stakeholders (local government and families), and finally similarities and differences through cross-case analysis. Findings: Local government focused more on physical access, than social inclusion. Local government met only minimal requirements and had little engagement with families. This resulted in poor understanding and action around family needs and preferences when designing public outdoor play spaces. Conclusion and significance: To increase meaningful choice and participation in outdoor play, government understanding of family values and agency around engagement with local government needs to improve. Supporting familial collective capabilities requires understanding interactions between individuals, play, disability, and outdoor play environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Autistic community values neurodiversity-positive approaches rather than behavioral interventions for Autistic children; however, little is known about what that would look like in occupational therapy. Frequently, researchers seek parent perspectives for understanding Autistic children's preferences, while to date insufficient attention has been paid to Autistic adults as valuable informants on the Autistic experience of Autistic children. The objective of the study was to understand Autistic adult perspectives on pediatric occupational therapy for Autistic children. We sought and thematically analyzed data from a large Facebook group and an occupational therapy podcast on Autistic values, needs, and experiences in pediatric occupational therapy. Participants described wanting therapy that supported Autistic identities rather than trying to "fix" children, changing environments or tasks to promote participation, and setting goals that address self-advocacy and autonomy. Occupational therapy practitioners should critically reflect on their practice's alignment with Autistic values and start to shift their practice as needed.

The ongoing racism pandemic in the United States negatively impacts the health, safety, and occupations of Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color. Although occupational therapy (OT) practitioners have a pressing obligation to actively address racism's causes and consequences, they lack guidance on what to do. This scoping study sought to identify and synthesize existing knowledge on ways OT practitioners and the profession can engage in anti-racist actions. Six databases were searched for content related to OT and anti-racism. The 31 included articles indicated that OT practitioners should: engage in reflexivity on ways their power and privilege impact therapeutic relationships, use inclusive models, consider how racism can impact client occupations and health care access, and address structural racism through advocacy and occupations as means. Although being anti-racist is a lifelong process, strategies within this study can support OT practitioners and the profession to initiate concrete anti-racist actions.

Introduction: Children with disabilities often experience unsupportive environments that restrict their play opportunities and inclusion on the school playground. This exclusion can perpetuate inequities for children with disabilities, with lifelong implications. The Sydney Playground Project uses a simple, innovative intervention consisting of placing recycled materials on the playground and engaging parents and educators in risk reframing sessions to create increased playground choice, control, independence and inclusion for all children., Methods: The purpose of this study was to learn from participants about the utility of the intervention for promoting choice and control among children with disability on the school playground. Data included evaluative interviews with 27 school staff (teaching assistants, teachers, therapists, school leadership) across five participating schools after completing of the intervention. Analysis was thematic and explored prominent ideas first within schools, and then between schools., Results: Prior to the intervention, participating school staff focused on active supervision to support play and student needs. During the intervention, school staff experienced role shift and confusion as they allowed the children increased independence while using the recycled materials and learned to navigate how much independence to give the children. Children engaged in increased imaginative and social play, and school staff adopted higher expectations of children's capabilities., Conclusion: Interventions such as the Sydney Playground Project that collaboratively shift adult perceptions to focus on the capabilities of children with disabilities and increase the supportiveness of the physical environment have great promise in increasing play choice and inclusion on the school playground., (© 2019 Occupational Therapy Australia.)