Using a Music Therapy Collaborative Consultative Approach - World ...

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children with special need ages three to five years from two childcare centers were observed
interacting on the playground. Using a scan-sampling method (“snap-shot” observation of a
child for 10 seconds at a time), the experimenter recorded three play types: playing alone,
playing with a teacher or playing cooperatively with peers. Results indicated that children
with special needs engaged less frequently in cooperative play and more often in playing
alone or with a teacher than their typically developing peers.
Fujiki, Brinton, Isaacson and Summer (2001) also provide evidence that elementary
students with language impairment spend significantly less time interacting with peers on
playgrounds than did their typically developing peers. They also demonstrate significantly
more withdrawn behaviors than their typical counterparts. No other notable differences in
other coded categories (adult interaction, aggression, victimization, and so forth) were
observed.
However, in a free play setting where no play routines are established, it is difficult, if
not outright impossible, for children with autism to join in the fast play pace and play styles
of their typically developing peers (Nabors et al., 2001). As a result, children with autism
often wander aimlessly around, or engage in stereotypic patterns such as spinning a leaf.
Clear structure of the physical environment, predictable play routines, and clear visual
information are among the educational/therapeutic strategies used for children with autism to
enable them to function independently in their classrooms (Marcus et al., 2001). But these
strategies have not yet been implemented on playgrounds. Playgrounds need to be viewed as
therapeutic settings as are classrooms (Nabors et al., 2001), especially in early childhood