3 theoretical approaches to play: applications for exceptional children.

Three theories of play are reviewed and discussed in terms of their applicability to exceptional children. The theories--Freud's psychodynamic, Piaget's developmental, and Ellis' arousal-seeking--are compared on the basis of: 1. the validity of their constructs, 2. their ability to account for behaviors of exceptional children, and 3. the likelihood that they could generate future play research with an exceptional population. It was concluded that the only theory that could hope to meet these requirements at this time was the arousal-seeking theory of Ellis.