Abstract
This chapter has been co-written by a parent, a family support worker and an academic. Playfulness in children with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) is discussed from various viewpoints. It is asserted that playfulness is an essential part of all childhoods and that children with PMLD express this in many different and sometimes subtle ways. The support they need to access their playfulness has to take into account the various competing demands that are placed upon families. By encouraging playfulness, we are also supporting children with PMLD to show strengths that are often not acknowledged elsewhere.
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Watson, D., Jones, A., Potter, H. (2018). Expressive Eyebrows and Beautiful Bubbles: Playfulness and Children with Profound Impairments. In: Runswick-Cole, K., Curran, T., Liddiard, K. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Disabled Children’s Childhood Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54446-9_13
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