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Social interactions at school of children who are medically fragile and developmentally delayed

Roberta S Rehm1, Joan F Bradley

  • 1Department of Family Health Care Nursing, University of California at San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, San Francisco, CA 94131, USA. roberta.rehm@nursing.ucsf.edu

Journal of Pediatric Nursing
|July 18, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Children with medical fragility and developmental delays (MF/DD) engage in numerous social interactions, primarily with adults during caregiving. These children need support to initiate and participate in play-based social activities.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Social Development
  • Childhood Special Education

Background:

  • Children with medical fragility and developmental delays (MF/DD) often have unique social interaction patterns.
  • Understanding these patterns is crucial for developing effective support strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the social interactions of children with MF/DD in a school setting.
  • To identify the frequency, nature, and participants in social encounters.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of 576 social interactions among 11 children with MF/DD.
  • Documenting the number of people interacted with and the number of social encounters per day.
  • Categorizing interactions by initiation and activity (e.g., play, caregiving).

Main Results:

  • Children interacted with an average of 13.82 people, totaling 52 encounters daily.
  • The majority of interactions (83.5%) were with adults, often during care or teaching.
  • Only a small percentage of interactions were initiated solely for play (4.2%).

Conclusions:

  • Children with MF/DD have a high volume of social interactions, predominantly adult-led and care-focused.
  • These children require specific assistance and support to engage in reciprocal play and peer interactions.

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