Social coping strategies in pre‐school play. how do children with disabilities succeed in play groups with other children?

Research literature has documented links between peer difficulties in early childhood and later poor social, emotional and academic adjustment. Since children with disabilities have more problems than others with peer relations, objectives in early childhood education should include helping children with disabilities to cope with social tasks in peer groups. This article presents four case studies concerning children with different disabilities, focusing on their social coping‐strategies in playgroups in inclusive pre‐schools. The analysis is mainly qualitative, based on data from video observations and field notes. The children with disabilities used less successful social coping strategies than their non‐disabled peers, and seemed to have difficulties with coherence in play and social interchanges. Intervention strategies are discussed in the light of salutogenic theory.