Lower parent tolerance of risk in play for children with disability than typically-developing children

Becoming an autonomous adult includes understanding consequences associated with risks. However, the extent to which parents afford children with disability opportunities for manageable risk-taking is not known. The aim of this study was to compare parents of children with and without disability to identify any differences in promoting manageable risk-taking. Data were collected from parents of typically-developing children and parents of children with developmental disability. Two groups were matched based on parent and child chronological ages for typically-developing children and children with developmental disability. These parents completed the Tolerance of Risk in Play Scale (TRiPS), a 16-item measure of activities adults allow their children (aged 2 to 12 years) to participate in. Parents of typically-developing children were significantly more likely to answer ‘yes’ to six questions regarding the likelihood of them tolerating manageable risk-taking compared to parents of children with developmental disability (p<0.05). The total number of tolerated risks was also significantly higher for the parents of typically-developing children (341[79%]) than the parents of children with developmental disability (247[58%]). Parents of children with a disability were less tolerant of risk-taking in play than the parents of typically-developing children.