Play days helping neurodivergent children learn

For 28-year-old first-time mother Rocheen Cover, watching her four-year-old son engage, interact and express himself through playing was all the confirmation she needed that she made the right choice to transition from public school.

Her son is neurodivergent, which means a person's brain works differently from what is considered typical, affecting how the individual learns, communicates or interacts. Cover was among parents who attended the Play Therapy Initiative hosted by Adonijah Group of Schools, Therapy & Assessment Centre in Kingston last week.

"It was very interactive, they had different types of games. Both educational and free play types of games. So the whole school basically could interact. They started with the younger group, which my child is in and then they started to incorporate other grades. They all got equal times to play and interact with psychology students from The UWI (The University of the West Indies) who also observed the interaction," Cover said.

"It was a really good experience seeing the other children with different diagnoses or from different class interact in one space. Usually I just interact with my son's classmates, but getting to see the whole school interacting, with the university students, teachers, principals and the directors interacting together, was a good feeling."

The play day was held as part of Play Month and to bring awareness to play therapy as a growing discipline in Jamaica.

"Play therapy offers support for all children, including special needs across the island especially when it comes to mental health support," explained Angela Panis, principal and play therapist at Adonijah Group of Schools, Therapy & Assessment Centre.

"The purpose of play day is about meeting children where they are. We as adults have to step into the child's world rather than expecting the child to adapt to ours. And that rings very true when we also speak of inclusion. As a special educator, inclusion is also very important because it starts when we stop trying to change the children and start understanding them," she said.

According to Panis, playing is a child's first language, so for many children, including those with special needs, it's their most powerful form of communication.

"Many children with special needs may not be able to readily access speech and language, for example, regardless of all of those deficits. Play is their form of communication and connecting with us," she said.

"For children with special needs playing is not just how they learn, but how they regulate their nervous system and how they feel safe around adults."

Panis stressed that the collaboration with psychology students from The UWI's, Taylor Hall Galaxia, visiting and interacting with the children is crucial for shaping future child-centred professionals.

"They were guided by our trained educators, practitioners, just to allow them to learn how to connect to play in a safe and respectful way. And that's very important to us because play therapy is an experiential learning process."

"This kind of exposure helps future professionals to understand children in their natural environment, which is something that is that you can't learn from labels or textbooks."

For Cover, who admitted she knew little about neurodivergence before her son's diagnosis, the school has been life-changing.

"He was going to a regular school because we thought that engaging him with regular kids who are talking would help because he is non-verbal, [but] he can read. He started therapy at the school and I made a transition in September 2025 where I can fully understand the type of school that I'm engaging in. It will focus definitely on his diagnosis and then [we are] in a time that we have now where more babies are being born with autism or some neurodivergencies."

"It's very good to have the education, the space and the practices that they have at that facility. It's exceptional to have a team that can support these kids. Having that space that I know I can trust to have my son in is reassuring and other parents can look into these initiatives."