Evolution of the playful behavior of children with Down syndrome
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2238-6149.v29i2p170-178Keywords:
Occupational therapy, Down syndrome, Play and playthingsAbstract
Playing is central to child development and it’s the primary occupational role in childhood. The use of the Playful Model as a theoretical reference allows the play analysis and the Occupational Therapy practice reflection in this context. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the playful behavior of a group of children with Down syndrome before and after the interventions performed by occupational therapists. This is an observational, analytical and retrospective study performed in a nursery school hospital in the Occupational Therapy sector, whose attendance happened in a therapeutic toy library. Thirty children diagnosed with Down syndrome, aged between 8 months and 14 years old, participated in the research. The results suggest that the studied group evolved significantly in the General and Playful Interest, in Playfulness and Playful Attitude, except for the Expression ability by words and phrases. The final considerations point to the adequacy of the use of the instruments proposed by the Playful Model to measure the playful behavior of children with Down syndrome up to the age of 14 years.