067 - Are children with neurodevelopmental disabilities offered fewer opportunities of early learning/play activities as compared to typically developing children?

Publication Number: 67.3654

Tehrima Rai, Tehrima Rai, BRONX, NY, United States; Elisa Muniz, The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, New York, NY, United States; Ellen J. Silver, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Newberg, OR, United States; Blanche Benenson, The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, NY, United States; Maria Valicenti-McDermott, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States; Ruth EK. Stein, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Larchmont, NY, United States

Background: Family play, learning opportunities, and other stimulating activities in early childhood enhance language, cognitive, and social-emotional abilities. It is unknown if children with NDD experience the same opportunities as neurotypical children.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that children with NDD are offered fewer opportunities compared to those without NDD.

Design/Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) 2022 data for children 1-2 and 3-5 years of age. Frequency of play/learning activities were measured by parents’ responses to questions about hours playing outdoors on weekdays and weekends and days in the last week telling stories/singing and reading. Children with NDD were identified by any positive response to questions about autism spectrum disorder/Asperger’s disorder or pervasive developmental disorder, attention deficit disorder or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, cerebral palsy, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, developmental delay, intellectual disability, speech or other language disorder and learning disability. Outcome variables were dichotomized. Chi-square and logistic regression were used to examine the differences in play opportunities between children with and without NDD. Data were weighted, and analyses were adjusted for complex sampling.

Results: The cohort was 50.3% male. Children with NDD were more likely to be non-white, male, have < very good health and had caregivers with lower education status, unemployment, < very good physical health, < excellent mental/emotional health, and household income at < 400%FPL (Table 1). Rates of telling stories or singing among children aged 1-2 years with NDD were significantly lower than those without NDD (p=0.004), but no differences were observed in reading (Table 2). Rates of telling stories/singing and reading did not differ for those aged 3-5 years. Rates of outdoor play on weekdays (p <.001) and weekends (p=.015) were lower among children with NDD for 3–5-year-olds (Table 2). In logistic regression controlling for covariates, only the difference in telling stories/singing among 1-2 year-olds was significant (Table 3).

Conclusion(s): This study reveals that children 1-2 years with NDD are less likely to have early learning/play opportunities in terms of telling stories/singing compared to those without NDD. The lack of association between NDD and outdoor play when socioeconomic and caregiver-related factors were controlled suggests that these factors may play a role in influencing some play opportunities during early childhood.

Demographics


Frequency of early learning activities among children with and without NDD


Table 03: Logistic regression (adjusted OR) of early learning/play opportunities among children with and without NDD


Demographics


Frequency of early learning activities among children with and without NDD


Table 03: Logistic regression (adjusted OR) of early learning/play opportunities among children with and without NDD