Supporting Children with Disabilities in Play Activities During the Process of Shifting from Home-Based Care to Daycare Settings in Japan

This study examined the support for children with disabilities in play activities during the process of shifting fromhome-based care to daycare settings.As the results, the support related to child development, families, and communities promoted playing that took intoaccount children’s age and the types and levels of disability, understanding of children as well as their disabilitiesin the process of playing, inclusion of children in the community, and the building of a relationship between childrenand the community.Also, the results identified the following: in order to protect children’s rights to play, it is important to not onlypromote their recovery and development through playing, but also respect the independence of children withdiseases or disabilities; create a better life for children and ensure their social participation through playing that issupported by a spontaneous motivation aiming at playing for its own sake; and obtain further support from nationaland local governments.