Matheus Ribeiro

Neuroeducando Ludic Therapy Center, Brazil

Title: From Affordances to Participation: The Role of the Ludic Concept® in Creating Motor, Sensory, and Social Opportunities in an Enriched Natural Environment

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Biography

Matheus Ribeiro is a Brazilian pediatric neurofunctional physiotherapist, researcher, educator, and writer, founder of Neuroeducando — the largest transdisciplinary complex for ludic therapies in Southern Brazil —, creator of the Ludic Therapy Brasil® Concept, and founder of Sensory Camp®. For more than two decades, he has dedicated his clinical practice, professional training, and academic work to the study of the ludic and its relationship with development, learning, engagement, and child participation.

A specialist in Neurofunctional Physiotherapy from the Institute of Education and Research at Hospital Moinhos de Vento, affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medicine International, he also holds specializations in Pediatric Neurorehabilitation, Neuroeducation, Special Education, and Autism, as well as international training in Sensory Integration, Snoezelen, neurodevelopment, and early intervention.

His interest in the ludic has been present throughout his entire career, from his early work in special education and his training in theater to academic studies on play in autism and ludic exercise in the neuropsychomotor development of children with visual impairment. The convergence of science, clinical practice, creativity, and more than 20 years of observing child participation gave rise to the Ludic Therapy Brasil® Concept, which proposes understanding the ludic not as a complementary resource, but as part of the very architecture of the therapeutic experience.

This perspective also gave rise to Sensory Camp®, held since 2019, an inclusive experience in a natural and enriched environment that has already benefited more than one thousand children and adolescents, promoting opportunities for movement, sensory exploration, social interaction, autonomy, and participation.

He is also the author of O Maior Amor do Mundo (“The Greatest Love in the World”), a Brazilian novel featuring a young woman with cerebral palsy as its protagonist and building its narrative from stories and experiences inspired by the realities of atypical families, extending into literature his commitment to inclusion and to valuing human experiences beyond disability.

His mission is to contribute to a science of development that recognizes the ludic not as an interval in learning or therapy, but as a fundamental language of human development.

Abstract

Background: Participation in children with neurodevelopmental conditions is shaped not only by individual characteristics but also by the dynamic relationship between the child, the environment, activities, and social partners. From an affordance perspective, environments provide possibilities for action that may support exploration, interaction, and participation. However, the presence of environmental opportunities does not necessarily result in their use. The Ludic Concept® proposes that play can function as a relational process through which adults recognize, support, and expand emerging possibilities for action and participation. 

Objective: To explore, through the Ludic Concept® framework, how participation in Sensory Camp®, an enriched natural-environment experience in Brazil, was associated with perceived changes in sensory exploration, self-regulation, avoidance behaviors, and participation among children with neurodevelopmental conditions. 

Methods: A quantitative, descriptive, comparative pre–post design was used. Forty-two children with typical and atypical development, including different neurodevelopmental conditions, participated in Sensory Camp®. Caregivers completed questionnaires before and after the experience. Because the pre- and post-intervention instruments were not identical, responses were compared through thematic equivalence across domains including sensory responses, emotional regulation, activity participation, and behavioral responses. Findings were interpreted descriptively and within the conceptual framework of affordances and the Ludic Concept®. 

Results: Caregiver reports indicated perceived positive changes following participation in Sensory Camp®, including greater self-regulation, increased participation in activities, greater sensory exploration, and reduced avoidance behaviors. These findings suggest that participation in an enriched natural environment may provide conditions that support diverse forms of engagement and exploration. 

Conclusion: The findings support a contextual interpretation in which the environment is not merely a setting for intervention but a source of affordances that may expand opportunities for action and interaction. The Ludic Concept® offers a framework for understanding how playful relational mediation may help transform environmental possibilities into meaningful motor, sensory, and social opportunities. This perspective shifts the focus from simply providing sensory experiences toward intentionally creating conditions in which children can act, explore, interact, and participate.