8 Inclusive Play and Disability in Early Childhood Education and Care Services. The Experiences of Italian Practitioners

Italian mainstream Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services are characterized by their inclusive approach. The current study aimed at collecting the educators’ experiences in promoting inclusion in everyday activities with children with disabilities in nursery schools, using a questionnaire specifically designed for this purpose. The main goal was describing the strategies practitioners used to foster inclusive play and the difficulties they faced in preventing or overthrowing the barriers to participation in play. A deductive content analysis was performed on the answers to two open questions, to investigate the themes of types of play, adult’s role in supporting play and didactic strategies to promote inclusive play. The role of toys as barriers or facilitators to play and the perceived need for training about the theme of play for children with disabilities were also reported.