Active Play for Children and Youth with Disabilities

Abstract

Children and youth with disability participate in play activities, particularly in an activeform, less frequently than their peers without disability. This disparity calls for identifyingbarriers that limit their participation, while also exploring that foster meaningful playexperiences among children and youth with disability. This thesis examined barriers, facilitators,and opportunities for active play among children and youth with disabilities. This thesis is acompilation of two research studies. The first study (Chapter 3) synthesized evidence fromexisting systematic and scoping reviews to investigate how children and youth with disabilitiesand their adult facilitators define, perceive, and experience active play, as well as the barriers,facilitators, and interventions influencing their participation. This study revealed that childrenand youth with disability perceive and experience active play in diverse ways; thus, definingactive play solely in terms of voluntary engagement and intrinsic motivation risks overlookingvarying forms of play (e.g., facilitated, adapted, or structured) that can support meaningfulparticipation for children and youth with disabilities. Consequently, reframing how active play isconceptualized and operationalized is needed to better support active play for children and youthwith disability. The second study (Chapter 4) is an environmental scan of federal and provincialpolicies supporting play participation for children and youth with disability in Canada. Thisstudy supplements the first study by addressing the limited evidence on public policy factors,highlighting how structural support shapes opportunities for meaningful play participation forchildren and youth with disability. The findings indicate that while federal policies demonstrate astrong commitment to accessibility and inclusion, provincial approaches are inconsistent, withonly a few explicitly addressing inclusive play. Collectively, the overall findings of this thesisprovide a comprehensive overview of the barriers, facilitators, and opportunities for active play, offering critical insights into how conceptual, social, and structural factors intersect to shape theplay experiences of children and youth with disability. These insights highlight the importance ofmulti-level strategies—ranging from redefining play, to fostering inclusive practices, toadvancing supportive policies—to promote equitable access to meaningful active play for allchildren and youth