Having a Say in Places to Play: Children with Disabilities, Voice and Participation

Play is a fundamental occupation of children, and children’s right to play is recognized in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Opportunities to play are influenced by the environment, and in a child-rights-based approach, adults have an obligation to provide appropriate play spaces. Children with disabilities experience difficulties in accessing and playing in community play spaces. Therefore, their perspectives should be included in the design of these spaces. Instead, they are often excluded from consultation on playspace designs, and their participation rights are denied. Children with disabilities are thus multiply disadvantaged in exercising their rights.