PLAY THERAPY IN EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

This review aims to systematically analyze the research on play therapy and its effectiveness in helping children with special educational needs (SEN) succeed in school. Play therapy has shown great promise in special education as a child-centered approach that utilizes engaging and interactive mediums to assist social, emotional, and cognitive development. Focusing on implementation issues and factors affecting play therapy's efficacy, the study intends to assess its effectiveness across different SEN situations. Recent studies have shown that play therapy can help individuals with special educational needs (SEN), especially those on the autistic spectrum and those with ADHD, greatly improve their social skills, emotional control, and problem-solving ability. Nevertheless, several obstacles are highlighted in the study. These include different kinds of special needs, methodological limitations in previous research, and the impact of social and cultural variables on the results of play therapy. The results stress the importance of individualized strategies that consider cultural norms, educational settings, and student requirements. To help teachers and therapists make the most of play therapy in special education, this review adds to the expanding corpus of literature on the topic. To fill in the gaps and strengthen the evidence foundation for play therapy treatments in special education settings, future research approaches are being recommended.