Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine, - Department of E.N.T

Play is very important as it helps cognitive, language, social, emotional and physical development. The value of play is increasingly recognized by researchers for children as the evidence mounts of its relationship with intellectual achievement, language development and emotional wellbeing. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess play skills in a group of children having cognitive delay (mild and moderate cognitive delay with or without Down syndrome) and to study the correlation between play level, language skills and cognitive skills in these children. Subjects and method: 75 Egyptian preschool children aged between 2-5 years were divided into 3 groups; group of normal children, group of cognitive delayed children (CD) and group of Down syndrome. They were subjected to the protocol of Arabic language assessment and a play observation checklist designed in the study and applied by the assessor during a setting of informal observation. The checklist covered the following items; level of play, behavior of the child during play, receptive kills & language use during play, child interaction with peers & with adults as well as problem solving during play. Results: There was positive correlation among IQ, play and language scores in Down syndrome while there was correlation only between language and play in cognitive delay children. Conclusion: Cognitive level, development of play skills and language abilities are interrelated in groups under study (CD and DS). The relation between cognitive level, play skills and language abilities are more prominent in DS children than in CD children

Issued also as CD