Underrepresentation of the Needs of Children With Disabilities and Their Families in Community Outdoor Play Spaces: A Local Government Perspective

PURPOSE: The benefits of outdoor play opportunities for all children are globally recognized. Yet, children with disabilities participate less in outdoor play than their typically developing peers. Developmental disabilities are overrepresented in children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, who are even less likely to be afforded outdoor play opportunities. When viewed through an ecocultural lens, the environment in which children live impacts their play opportunities. Actualizing the right for children with developmental disabilities to play outside may require both local governments and families to work together to understand and respond to children’s needs. However, the needs of families and local governments may not always be congruent, especially when a community is CALD. The purpose of this study was to understand the nature of local government decision making for outdoor play opportunities for children with disabilities and their families from culturally diverse backgrounds.

DESIGN: A local government in a CALD city in Australia was used as a case to investigate the phenomenon of how outdoor play opportunities in the community are afforded for children with developmental disabilities. Triangulation of data occurred among policies at local and national government levels, local government employees (coordinator for parks, senior architect, accessibility advocate, children’s services coordinator, and an early intervention representative), four parents of elementary school-age children with developmental disabilities, and an audit of major playgrounds within the community.

METHOD: Data collection included semistructured interviews, document auditing, and playground observations. Interviews were informed by playground observations and document analysis. Qualitative analysis of transcripts was thematic and iterative. Iterative analysis included coding concepts around decision making, grouping into subthemes, and finally placing themes within the ecocultural model. Strategies to enhance rigor included member checking, validating preliminary analysis with subsequent participants, using existing literature to inform coding, peer debriefing, and considering alternative explanations.

RESULTS: Within an ecocultural context, few examples were observed of direct or indirect local government interactions with families around outdoor play for children with developmental disabilities. Emerging themes were the absence of a focus on play within disability and CALD services and the misunderstanding or lack of consideration of the needs of children with disabilities and their families during the planning for local play opportunities. Barriers to greater opportunities for participation in outdoor play for children with developmental disabilities were costs, community demographics, priorities of local government, and family awareness.

CONCLUSION: For disability-inclusive development, local governments must prioritize the needs of all of their constituents, but those who are most vulnerable should receive special consideration. Despite the best of intentions, outdoor play for children with disabilities was rarely considered within the context of this local government. Occupational therapists advocate for participation of children with disabilities and their families within communities and thus need to understand the decision making by local governments around the occupation of outdoor play. This advocacy complements the shift to environmental rather than impairment-focused intervention. Environmental intervention can include assisting local government responses to the needs of children with disabilities and their families from diverse backgrounds around inclusive outdoor play for all children.

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