Play in retrospection

The aim of this study is to analyze and describe how adults with visual disability, motor disability and Asperger syndrome retrospectively identify and experience play in their childhood. Fifteen adults, aged 25 to 76 years, were interviewed about their play experiences. A qualitative approach was adopted with the aim to describe qualitatively different experiences of play. The findings indicate that play experiences merge like mirror images with participation and exclusion as two divergent sides of play. The data suggest that niches for play experiences include three components related to participation and exclusion: a personal component, a social component and an environmental component. Type of disability is one of many aspects making up the three components without being a central feature within any of the components. Type of disability affects personal characteristics and preferences, form of social interaction and the environmental requirements for participating in play but not the experience of play per se. Unique to this study is the importance assigned to the concept of niche. Perceived niches are based on memories and also influence the construction of memories. Thus, they function as a link between perceptions of experiences of play from childhood to adulthood.