Risky Play for Children with Physical Disabilities within Atlantic Canada from the Perspective of their Caregivers

Abstract

Introduction: Play is the primary form of physical activity (PA) children engage in from a young age. Children naturally enjoy engaging in risky play as it is fun and thrilling. Risky play is associated with increased PA and has known health and well-being outcomes. Unfortunately, children with physical disabilities (CWPD) face barriers to all types of play, including risky play. Purpose: This research aims to understand how physical disability impacts children’s risky play experiences from the perspective of their caregiver by exploring following research questions: (1) How do caregivers of CWPD perceive risky play, (2) How do caregivers of CWPD define and characterize risky play? and (3) From the perspective of the caregiver, what are factors that influence CWPD’ risky play experiences? Methods: We used qualitative description and approached this work through a social constructivist worldview. We recruited caregivers of CWPD to participate in one-on-one virtual interviews using a pre-established semi-structured interview guide. The interview questions were open-ended and created using the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) framework and the socioecological model (SEM). Interviews were transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis and themes were generated through the lenses of the ICF and SEM frameworks. Results: We interviewed twelve caregivers of CWPD. Five themes were generated: (1) Disability Can Make Anything Risky!, (2) We Can’t Define Risky Play Without Social Risks, (3) “Not Allowed” to Participate in Risky Play, (4), Additional Pressures Caregivers Face to Supporting Risky Play, and (5) Not just Access but Belonging. Overall, the stories of caregivers helped to identify ways to better characterize risky play to be inclusive of their children’s experiences and ways to better support CWPD engagement in risky play. Conclusion and Implications: This thesis gave insight into how caregivers of CWPD perceive risky play, how they define risky play, and the many factors which influence their children’s risky play experiences. Caregivers supported their children’s participation in risky play. They suggested that categories of risky play may need to be expanded to support inclusion, and that there were unique risky play considerations for CWPD. It is of hope that this research will be the first of many to explore how children living with disabilities experience risky play and how we can support their engagement in risky play throughout their childhood. There is a need to improve supportive pathways to risky play for CWPD, such as increased accessibility to unstructured play spaces, as well as education of disability culture and risky play for people who support CWPD’ play in schools and communities.