Effects of ordinary and adaptive toys on pre-school children with developmental disabilities.
Fit the toy to the child, not the child to the toy, and play jumps right away.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Hsieh (2008) watched three preschoolers with developmental delays during free play.
Each child got two kinds of toys: regular preschool toys and toys that were changed for their needs.
The changed toys had bigger buttons, brighter lights, or easier grips. The team counted how often each child played the right way with each toy.
What they found
Every child played the right way more with the changed toys. The jump was big and it showed up right away.
When the regular toys came back, play dropped. Swap in the changed toys again and play rose again.
How this fits with other research
KEmerson et al. (2023) gave Fidget Cubes to older kids and saw no gain. That looks like a clash, but the kids were 8-11 with attention issues, not 3-5 with delays. The cube was off-the-shelf, not built for each child.
Smith et al. (1997) showed food beats toys in preference tests. Yet they also proved a toy can still work as a reinforcer if you give it after the response. Hsieh-Chun skips the food fight and just gives toys built for the child.
McAdam et al. (2005) found that 30-60 min without a toy makes kids want it more. Hsieh-Chun keeps the same short gaps, so the boost seen may be part toy-fit and part mild deprivation.
Why it matters
You can raise play skills in one session by picking toys that match the child’s body and senses. No extra tokens, no long training. Just swap the toy. Next time a child sits still or mouths objects, ask: can this toy be bigger, brighter, louder, softer? Try the change and watch play come alive.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Toys help children in mastering developmental tasks. This study investigated toy effect on children with developmental disabilities as they engage in using ordinary and adaptive toys. A single-subject design was used to identify the effects on their toy play abilities. Differences in toy effects between playing ordinary and adaptive toys were examined. Three special education teachers chose ordinary toys and modified ordinary toys. Modified ordinary toys, i.e., adaptive toys, were designed according to the individual disabilities of participating children, treatment goals, and the toy types. Three children with developmental disabilities from pre-schools in Taiwan were enrolled. Appropriate participation of three pre-schoolers increased dramatically in playing adaptive toys during intervention phase. The toy effects demonstrate that when using adaptive toys, children with developmental disabilities may response better during toy play sessions.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2008 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2007.08.004