Kenneth Sitolo

Discuss ten things to consider when buying toys for children with disabilities. According to Barboza (2007), a toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. The author mentions simple examples such as toy blocks, board games, and dolls. When buying toys for children one has to consider whether the child has a disability or not. If the child is disabled, care should be taken on the type of toy to be purchased. This paper is going to discuss the top ten things to consider when buying toys for children with disabilities. Firstly, Berenbaum (2008) argues that parents and caregivers should buy toys that can help turn the child’s developmental challenges into strengths. Certainly, children with disabilities are always lonely and have poor communication skills. Select toys such as talking books, stuffed animals or puppets that will help them to learn a language and also practice social interaction. A possible objection here would be that the sound produced by such toys is going to confuse some of the children. However, what matters most is that children with disabilities interact with toys to develop social skills. Secondly, for children with visual impairment or weak eyesight, it is important to consider buying toys which activate other sensory elements such as sounds, movements and textures (Trawick, 2015). For example, the parents should buy dolls that are easy to handle. This fact brings up the question: Can disabled children have problems with toys that have a rough texture? Since most of these children are not only physical challenged but mentally as well, they will find it difficult to hold, understand as well as play with rough textured toy. This is because the rough textured toy is difficult to handle and it can hurt the child. It is very important to buy toys the child can easily handle. Thirdly, children lacking fine motor skills, the parents must consider buying puzzles that has pegs, because they teach skills such as taking turns with partners and eye-hand coordination ( Alexander, 2012). Those who deny this may argue by saying that such children should not be allowed to play puzzle game because they are intellectually demanding. However, the important thing about puzzles is that they allow the children to use their body parts such as hands and eyes. Fourthly, consider modifying many everyday play items such as cards, stones, bricks, sticks and many other locally available items because they can help also work well for kids with special needs (Hains, 2014). A question that arises here is whether it is possible to make modifications of toys when you are not a professional in toy making. The answer to this question is that toys must not be complex but simple and improvised from the things the child is already familiar with. The disabled child is likely to like playing with such a toy because of its simplicity and familiarity. The fifth point is that the caregiver or parent might consider to buy books as toys for the children with disabilities (Miller, 2015). Here it might be asked on how a physically challenged child can read and understand information in a book. However, the parent, caregiver or any other child can help the challenged child to open, read and understand the information in the books. Books are a great way to learn, but some children may lack fine motor skills that makes it difficult to turn pages. In that case, the adult should not flip all the pages because that sends the communication to the child that the adult is in charge. The sixth point is that one should read the label before buying a toy for a child with disability (Miller, 2015). Why then is reading the label important? This is because warning labels give important information about how to use a toy and the ages of the children who can use the toy. This helps the parent or care giver to know whether the age of the child with disability matches with the toy and how to adapt it to suit the needs of the child with physical, emotional or mental challenges. The parents or care givers must show the children with disabilities how to use the toys in the right way to avoid injuries (Bernard,1994). The seventh point is that the parent or caregiver should think of buying big toys than smaller ones (Rossie, 2005). Those favouring buying smaller toys argue that children with disability will find it easy to handle as well play with a smaller toy. Such a statement may arise from ignorance of the fact that children with disability are fond of swallowing whatever object that comes in hand. It is very important to ensure that all toys and parts are larger than the disabled child to prevent choking (Wilkinson, 2008). The eighth point which a parent or caregiver should take into consideration is to avoid toys that shoot objects into the air (Smith, 2010). Those who base their conclusion by saying children enjoy shooting using toy guns will want disabled children to play with such shooting toys. They are ignorant of the fact that sometimes shooting toys cause serious eye injuries or choking on the child with disabilities or other children playing with him or her. For instance, buying a gun which shoot a jet of water might lead to the child shooting other children in the face hence leading to suffocation. However, if a parent or caregiver trusts the child to be rather quiet and well behaved, he or she can consider buying such a toy for the child (Hains, 2021). Now that we have discussed the dangers of shooting toys, it remains for us to examine the importance of stuffed toys to children with disabilities. The parent or caregiver should look for stuffed toys that are well made (Joplin, 1996). This is because such toys are unlikely going to cause an injury on the disabled child and that they are more comfortable to play with. Therefore the parents and caregiver must make sure all the parts of the toy are tight and the seams and edges are secure. Furthermore, the parent and caregiver must take off any loose cloth or strings to avoid strangulation. It is very important to consider safety of the child when considering to buy a toy for him or her (Klein,1998). Finally, the parent should consider buying plastic toys that are sturdy —means strong and compact (Oliver, 1996). Those who deny this would argue that plastic toys that are strong and compact stay for a very long time and are a source of happiness for the disabled child. Nevertheless, such toys when they break can form sharp jagged edges which can injure the child with disability. Furthermore, it is very important to avoid toys made from thin plastic. Although they are less expensive, they can break easily into sharp pieces hence injuring the child with disability. It is also important to avoid toys with toxic materials that could cause poisoning. For example, some toys has lithium batteries which can be licked by the child with disability hence causing poisoning (Powell, 2001). Therefore, make sure the batteries of the toy are inside the toy and can not be easily removed by the child with disability. In conclusion, the parent or caregiver considering to buy toys for children should put safety as the most important factor. This is because some toys can cause injuries to the disabled child. . REFERENCES Wilkinson, T. (2008). Girls play with dolls. Thames & Hudson: New York Powell, B. (2001). Gender neutral toys. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River Oliver, V. (1996). Spintastics Skill Toys. Macgraw Hill: London Klein, S. (1998). The Children's Culture Reader. University Press: New York Joplin, N. (1996). Toy Soldiers. 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