(Adapted from 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.)

Since 1975, Public Law 94-142, the Education for all Handicapped Children's Act (EHA), has become the most powerful piece of civil rights legislation in this country. In subsequent reauthorizations (including IDEA amendments of 1997) it has been strengthened to be even more responsive to the needs of students with disabling conditions. The mandate as guaranteed under the law is for all children to receive a "free and appropriate education."

But what is an appropriate education? Parents, teachers, administrators, and researchers have been asking that question since long before the 1975 statute. Among other things, one area that continues to emerge is the importance of recreation and leisure in the overall education of a child. "The Cardinal Principles of Education" (1912) included "worthy use of leisure" as one of its objectives. John Dewey (1916), the dean of modern education, repeatedly upheld the importance of play in the educational process. More recently, the National Advisory committee on the Handicapped, in its 1977 annual report stated, "it seems clear that no IEP can be considered complete unless it takes into consideration the handicapped child's special need for training and guidance in ... recreation, and the constructive use of leisure time." Yet the inclusion of those elements is hardly more of a reality today than it was in the early part of this century.

One thing that should make the inclusion of these elements a reality is the provision for therapeutic recreation services as one of several related services. Even though the federal statute contains "recreation as a related service," recreation, let alone therapeutic recreation has seldom been implemented as a part of special education. Additional information on this web site will explain the "recreation as a related service" provision and discuss issues related to implementation of therapeutic recreation in this nontraditional setting of special education.
 
 

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