ABSTRACT
This chapter describes two beliefs regarding the play of handicapped children. For a start children with physical deformities of the arms and legs or those who are blind cannot play in the same way as unaffected children. Those who are profoundly handicapped and immobilised can easily give the impression of being content to lie doing nothing. By contrast, children diagnosed as mentally handicapped or emotionally disturbed may be physically active but they behave abnormally for their age. In the absence of opportunities for play, the belief that handicapped children didn't play became a self-fulfilling prophecy. All the investigations reported in the literature clearly demonstrate that handicapped children do play. Multiply handicapped children, those called autistic and severely mentally handicapped adults are reported to develop new play repertoires in such environments, especially activities requiring gross-motor skills or those involving other people.
