Families, School Personnel, and Community Recreation Staff all play a role in encouraging the growth of friendships between children with and without disabilities.

1. Encouraging
children’s Friendship
through
RECREATION

3. Families, school personnel,
and community recreation
staff all play a role in
encouraging the growth
of friendships between
children with and without
disabilities.

4. Families can take many
positive steps to influence
friendship building between
children with and without
disabilities through
recreation activities.

5. Recognizing that friendships for
their children will generally not
occur by themselves, parents
recommend to other families
the following approaches for
encouraging friendships.

7. 1 Make
friendship
development a
family priority

8. 2 Become
acquainted
with other
families

9. 3 Schedule
children’s
times
together

10. 4 Invite
children into
homes and
on outing

11. 5 Learn about
individual needs
of children

12. 6 Discuss
children’s
friendships at
home

13. 7 Encourage
positive
social
interactions

14. 8 Learn about
community
recreation
resources

15. Title

16. Include social and
recreation skills in
curricula.

17. Assign
friends to the
same
classroom

18. Provide
opportunities for
families to
become
acquainted

19. Include
friendship and
recreation goals
in the IEPs

20. Train school
personnel on
children’s
friendships

21. Offer disability
awareness training
to parents and
nondisabled
children

22. Tell parents
when
friendships
develop.

24. Welcome all
children in
recreation
programs.

25. Ensure
architectural
accessibility

26. Ensure
program
accessibility

27. Educate staff
to meet
individual
needs.

28. Provide
cooperative
activities that
promote positive
peer interactions

29. Coordinate after-
school activities
and school
schedules

30. For children with and without disabilities
to become friends, they must have
opportunities to be together as peers in
recreation activities. Parents, school
personnel, and community recreation staff
all play an essential role in creating and
shaping these opportunities.

31. Title Silver Mae B. Molina
BEED-SPED
School of Education,
Xavier University

32. REFERENCES:
• https://wallpaperscraft.com/image/family_children
_balloons_nature_holiday_joy_54202_2560x1440
.jpg
• Citation: Gaylord, V., Lieberman, L., Abery, B. &
Lais, G. (Eds.). (2003). Impact: Feature Issue on
Social Inclusion Through Recreation for Persons
with Disabilities, 16(2) Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota, Institute on Community Integration.
Available from
• http://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/162.