Perhaps nothing reveals so much about individuals as how they choose to play - how they invest their time and energy for leisure time. Leisure is that time free from demands of school, work, or required activities of daily living. Everyone needs regular recreation that develops skills, promotes good health, relieves stress, facilitates social interactions, and provides a general joy for living.
For recreation, we choose activities at which we can be successful. Good readers read. Athletes seek sports' activities. Musicians lose themselves in music. Visual artists paint or draw. Craftspeople create. Social individuals engage in group activities. Observers appreciate the efforts of others - whether a basketball game, painting, fine meal, or concert.
Children, adolescents, and adults with learning disabilities may find themselves with limited opportunities to fully enjoy leisure time. A lack of perceptual, motor, memory, linguistic, or organizational skills may cause them as much difficulty for leisure as they have at school or work. Fear of failure may limit their reaching out to access recreational activities. Just as we teach children with dyslexia to read, those with math disabilities to understand math, those with linguistic problems to better comprehend and use language, we must teach skills and provide practice so individuals with learning disabilities can achieve some recreational proficiencies. When skills are not as well developed as necessary and compensations are not made, agencies, institutions, instructors, and coaches can be helped to make necessary accommodations. Satisfying leisure time for persons with learning and other disabilities is as important as accomplishments at home, school, and work.
Read Lorraine C. Peniston 1998 article posted at LD online HERE.