(by Bullock, C. C., Therapeutic Recreation in Special Education. The Parent Training Guide to Recreation. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina, Center for Recreation and Disabilities Studies.)

The need for recreation has long been seen as a universal need. Recreation participation has a significant impact on the social and psychological adjustment of an individual. Recreation activity is instrumental in the individual's development of a sense of personal identity and self-worth and the ability to interact with others and one's environment. Recreation assists in the learning process. Recreation as an educational tool can be used to achieve cognitive, social, emotional, and physical objectives identified in the IEP. Recreation activities and experiences are an important aspect of community adjustment and have an impact on total adjustment, especially in the transition from school to work and/or independent living. Therefore, recreation as a related service is an important part of a child's education.

Yet handicapped children are not provided the recreation services and opportunities needed to assist them in their adjustment and subsequent transition from school to adult life. Through recreation, handicapped students explore their own attitudes and values regarding leisure and recreational involvement and plan ways to utilize recreation to assist in their adjustment to school, community, and ultimately independent living. Recreation services for students with handicapping conditions should include assessment of leisure functioning, leisure education, therapeutic recreation, and recreation in school and community agencies. Although handicapped students should be afforded these services as referred, the content of instruction will vary according to the ages and abilities of students.

At all levels, emphasis is upon the assessment and subsequent remediation of recreation and play skills. Following assessment, remediation is accomplished through (1) treatment-oriented recreation services, (2) leisure education, and (3) recreation participation in the least restrictive environment. Early in a child's education, the student may receive therapeutic recreation to ameliorate cognitive, social, and physical deficits, thereby assisting in the educational process. Later, special emphasis is placed on initial exploration of recreation and leisure skills, values, and attitudes and on participation in activities consistent with their nonhandicapped peers.

At the secondary school level the emphasis may still be on assessment, remediation, and participation; however, the greatest emphasis at this level is leisure education to help in the preparation of the student to assume adult roles. Leisure education is crucial to the pretransitional and transitional phases of the handicapped student's life. At the time when the student is preparing for exit from school, there is an increasing emphasis on preparation for work. It is essential also that he or she understand the importance of recreation and leisure to a well-balanced adult life. As such, leisure education on an individual or group basis

1. clarifies leisure values;
2. fosters changes in leisure attitudes, appreciations, knowledge, skills, and behavior patterns;
3. reexamines time use patterns;
4. develops motivation and skills to participate in leisure experiences;
5. formulates new perspectives about the environment in which discretionary time may be spent;
6. relates the influence of leisure upon health, well-being, and satisfaction;
7. interrelates the creative and individual use of leisure and the quality of life;
8. serves as a tool to create a life of involvement and self-directed participation; and
9. discovers new talents and forms of expression.
 
 

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