Children who have developmental delay and learning disabilities, or a physical disability, or illness, or a combination of these, have emotional needs related to their loss or lack of a fully functioning physical body, a container for the self, which they can take for granted. Their identity and sense of self, however strong, will be affected by their feelings about their body, and also by their vulnerability and dependence on others. They inevitably have less control over their lives than most children, and often fewer opportunities for the self-directing play which is central to the development of a sense of autonomy. As Erikson and Winnicott have shown (see Chapters 1 and 2), play gives children a vital opportunity to be themselves. This chapter considers the needs of disabled and ill children, especially their need for a sense of autonomy or agency, and how play can help. It shows how therapeutic play and play therapy can provide some measure of healing to children whose disability or illness involves emotional trauma, whether stemming from the primary trauma of their physical condition or from other aspects of their lives, such as damaged attachment, separation, loss or abuse, or from more than one of these.