Program seeks to help developmentally disabled children play

There are many children here in the United States who suffer from developmental disabilities. Such disabilities can make it so a child has significant care needs that cost quite a bit to be met. One could understand how difficult of a situation this could lead to if a child’s family doesn’t have much in the way of income or resources.

One source of financial help low-income families in such a situation may have is Supplemental Security Income benefits, as children with developmental disabilities are among the individuals who can potentially qualify for such benefits. Whether a child with developmental disabilities is eligible for such benefits is dependent on several things, including how severe their disability is and how low their family’s income and asset levels are.

In additional to causing a child to have significant care needs, another thing a developmental disability can do is substantially limit a child’s ability to perform normal childhood activities. Such disabilities even have the potential to affect a child’s ability to engage in an activity that many would consider quintessential to childhood: playing with toys.

Recently, one of the big companies, Hasbro, has started a program aimed at helping make playing with some of its toys easier for children with developmental disabilities.

The program is called “ToyBox Tools” and it is a series of free online tools and videos. Currently, such videos/tools cover seven Hasbro toys, one of which is Mr. Potato Head. The goal of the tools/videos is to help kids with developmental disabilities get past struggles that their disabilities may cause when it comes to learning how to play with these toys.

According to Hasbro, it is possible that this program could be expanded to cover even more of its toys in the future.

What do you think of the Hasbro program? Do you think it could have a significant positive impact for children with developmental disabilities? Would you like to see these sorts of tools/videos available for all sorts of toys?

Source: Disability Scoop, “Toymaker Wants Playtime To Be More Inclusive,” Michelle Diament, Nov. 19, 2014