Regardless of age and interests, most folks are going to pick playing over working, if they are given the choice. As an occupational therapist, I focus on helping individuals become more functional in the activities that are meaningful to them. That means finding the motivation in people to help them strive toward accomplishing their goals. Experts in the field, agree that when an individual is intrinsically motivated, they achieve greater gains. This can be applied to most all self-care tasks, job rehabilitation tasks, and leisure skills.
Patients are individuals.
Each with his own set of likes, dislikes, and idiosyncrasies. Pediatric patients are simply kids, whether they have a developmental disability, a physical injury, a pervasive disorder, a congenital defect, or just a crummy attitude. A child is a child is a child. Yet most importantly, every child, with or without special needs, is going to participate best when invited into an activity rather than forced to participate. When the child is having fun, the child is learning.