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Twenty years ago few disabled children would have even contemplated playing with their able-bodied peers on a playground. The first problem was one of access: There was often no way for a child using a wheelchair, walker or crutches to get on or move through the playstructure. Back then there were no transfer modules, and few ramps. Loose-fill materials – pea gravel, wood chips or sand – encircled playstructures like moats, making wheelchair access impossible. And even when a playstructure did include a ramp, there was often no route of access from the nearest parking lot or sidewalk to the play area itself. To disabled children playgrounds might as well have been on the moon. For them, playground recreation involved watching others, hearing their laughs and getting a glimpse of their games, yet remaining detached and alone.
“Every kid wants to be up high where the action is.”
The next issue was one of inclusion. Assuming that a child with disabilities could safely negotiate his or her way to the playstructure, there was often precious little for them to do once they got there. Designers featured many elevated play events that often challenged the able-bodied, but left out those with disabilities: horizontal ladders and rings set high above the ground, out-of-reach track rides and towering slides. Even the ground-level events often required strength and agility that many disabled children did not possess.
Well, a lot has changed since the 1980s, but the work is far from done.
In September 2002 the Access Board published Accessibility Guidelines for play areas under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These guidelines established minimum standards for all newly built or altered play areas, and indicated not only what is to be accessible, but also how to achieve it. Requirements for access to both elevated and ground level play events were spelled out in detail, and, for the first time, children with disabilities are being given access to the world of play at thousands of schools, parks and child care centers. It is anticipated that the Department of Justice will adopt these guidelines as enforceable standards within the next two years.
The impact that these standards will have on children with disabilities is profound. A path to the playground has been cleared for them and many of the barriers have been surmounted. But, now that access has been defined, the questions of inclusiveness become even more important: What will children with disabilities do on the playground? With whom will they play? Will they be in the center of the action or on the periphery of play?
One person who has grappled successfully with the issues of access and inclusiveness is Mark White, environmental and risk manager for Lee?EUR??,,????'???s Summit School District 7 in Lee?EUR??,,????'???s Summit, Missouri.
During the summer of 2000 White began tracking the number and type of playground injuries that were occurring at the 13 elementary schools in his district, and was shocked to find that they were averaging 25 injuries per month that required a visit to a medial professional. Determined to do something about this he formed a Playground Safety Initiative team, which consisted of principals, teachers, playground supervisors, nurses and parents. He asked for their help in assessing the safety issues and product concerns on each of the playgrounds in the district.
Some of their findings were not surprising: much of the playground equipment was old and not in compliance with safety regulations, many injuries were occurring when older kids and younger children were playing together on the same playstructures, and the majority of injuries were unrelated to the playstructures at all.
But one of the PSI team?EUR??,,????'???s observations startled him: none of the school playgrounds were accessible to any significant extent by children with disabilities.
?EUR??,,????'??That is when my entire attitude towards playgrounds changed,?EUR??,,????'?? said White.
“Sway Fun was designed specifically for children with disabilities.”
?EUR??,,????'??Suddenly I began seeing the playground through the eyes of a child who was physically or mentally disabled. It disturbed me to see that they were excluded from the center of play, and often even prevented from getting to the playstructure itself.?EUR??,,????'??
Soon thereafter he became the ADA transition plan coordinator for the school district and that?EUR??,,????'???s when his mission expanded from one of playground safety to creating playgrounds that were universally accessible and inclusive. Said White, ?EUR??,,????'??I wanted our playgrounds to go beyond the minimum requirements set by the Access Board and become models for how playgrounds should be done.?EUR??,,????'??
White?EUR??,,????'???s first step in this direction was to install a revolutionary, fully inclusive play event at Cedar Creek Elementary School.
?EUR??,,????'??I first heard about Sway Fun in January 2002 from Perry Lawrence, the Missouri representative for Landscape Structures. He had just come from the company?EUR??,,????'???s annual sales meeting and did not even have a photograph of the product – that?EUR??,,????'???s how new it was – but he described Sway Fun to me as a play event that for the first time allowed children with disabilities to not only be in the middle of play, but to lead it. When he said that this single event could accommodate up to 12 kids, including two in wheelchairs, I knew I had to learn more.
According to Steve King, FASLA, chairman of Landscape Structures and chief designer of its products, Sway Fun allows playground designers to go beyond the issue of accessibility and step into the realm of truly inclusive play.
?EUR??,,????'??Sway Fun was designed specifically for children with disabilities,?EUR??,,????'?? said King. ?EUR??,,????'??It lets them experience a gliding, swaying motion along with a big group of their friends. Producing Sway Fun has shown us that there?EUR??,,????'???s a strong need for fun events that let children with disabilities lead the play.?EUR??,,????'??
The first Sway Fun installed in the United States was installed at Cedar Creek Elementary in October 2002. The event attracted a great deal of media attention with local newspapers and television stations, but the true measure of its success came from the kids – those with and without disabilities.
Less than one month after Cedar Creek installed the district?EUR??,,????'???s first Sway Fun event, Robbin Mentesana sent the following e-mail to Mark White. Her son, Saige, is a 12-year-old student at Cedar Creek. He uses a wheelchair to move about:
Saige loves the Sway Fun and I do too! He can now play and move on the playground with his friends. Not only is this good sensory therapy, it is also a wonderful social tool for him to be able to interact with all the kids at Cedar Creek outside of the school and during recess.
Cedar Creek has come a very long way from when the railroad ties were around the playground equipment and Saige had to sit on the side watching the other kids swing, climb and go down the slide. He now has access to the equipment, he now has a ride, and he can now have fun!!
The district will be installing their second Sway Fun at Prairie View Elementary School in March.
White?EUR??,,????'???s next goal was to create a playground at Lee?EUR??,,????'???s Summit Elementary School that would establish a high level access and inclusiveness for all schools in the district.
?EUR??,,????'??Every kid wants to be up high where the action is,?EUR??,,????'?? said White, ?EUR??,,????'??so we did not want kids with special needs to be on the periphery of the action; we wanted them to be at the center of play wherever it was taking place on the structure. This meant that the entire structure needed to be accessible.
?EUR??,,????'??We created an RFP that was based on values and outcomes and invited several companies to submit their designs and proposals. In the end we selected Landscape Structures, not just because of our experience with Sway Fun, but because they understood what we were trying to accomplish. Their entire plan showed that they knew how to make children with disabilities an integral part of the play experience.?EUR??,,????'??
Phase I of the Lee?EUR??,,????'???s Summit playground has already been installed, and plans have been drawn up for Phase II. When completed the playground, which replaces antiquated equipment that provided no access whatsoever, will include an access ramp at each end of a rambling playstructure creating a closed-loop wheelchair-accessible play area, with 34 play events, and 280 square feet of decks space connected by 80 feet of wheel-chair accessible bridge ramps.
Recently, White has been tearing down the aging playstructures that posed a hazard to children, and he is intent on replacing them with play areas that are both universally accessible and inclusive. ?EUR??,,????'??We?EUR??,,????'???re not a district with a lot of funds, but we have learned that the rewards of building progressive playgrounds benefits everyone. We have nearly 1,300 children with special needs at our schools, and parents who have children with disabilities are hearing about what we are doing here and they are moving into our district. That?EUR??,,????'???s the greatest testimony to our efforts.?EUR??,,????'??
One thousand miles to the southwest of Lee?EUR??,,????'???s Summit Elementary is the Enchanted Hills playground in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. This arid desert region could not be more different topographically from the lush countryside of Missouri, but they do share at least one thing in common: a commitment to children of all abilities.
The person spearheading this effort in Rio Rancho is PJ Perry, projects superintendent for the parks and recreation department of Rio Rancho.
Like his counterpart in Missouri, Perry has an enlightened view of play. Although his department is often the low man on the totem pole when it comes to municipal funding, he does not let that get in the way of developing incredible facilities.
?EUR??,,????'??It would be very easy to wring our hands and give up when we look at our annual funding levels for recreation facilities, but that?EUR??,,????'???s not our style. Everyone in our parks and recreation department looks at the world of play from this perspective: What is best for our kids and our community? Once we decide on what best means, we then ask ourselves ?EUR??,,????'??How can we make this happen??EUR??,,????'??? Everyone in the community becomes part of the solution,?EUR??,,????'?? says Perry.
This approach recently led Perry to the design and creation of a playground that is as innovative as any in North America.
?EUR??,,????'??Enchanted Hills started out as a two-acre parcel of sand, and it is now one of the most interesting parks in New Mexico. We not only found a unique way of providing accessibility to and around the playstructure, but we also made it incredibly fun for all kids.?EUR??,,????'??
Yes, Enchanted Hills has a Sway Fun of its own, but it also has the planet?EUR??,,????'???s first Thunderhead Climber – a new rotationally molded transfer module from Landscape Structures that doubles as a climber.
When the people at Exerplay (the Landscape Structures rep firm in New Mexico) showed me their new climber I was very excited. I thought ?EUR??,,????'??this is not just a ground to deck transfer module, it?EUR??,,????'???s a climber with incredible play value.?EUR??,,????'??? Immediately I envisioned kids with disabilities climbing right along with everyone else, hanging out together and socializing. Together Sway Fun and Thunderhead Climber have added an entirely new inclusive dimension to our park,?EUR??,,????'?? said Perry.
?EUR??,,????'??What is best for our kids and our community??EUR??,,????'??
The feature that Perry is most excited about isn?EUR??,,????'???t any event per se; it?EUR??,,????'???s the surfacing material that surrounds the playstructures.
?EUR??,,????'??We wanted a loose fill material with superior cushioning characteristics, but we also wanted the surface to be accessible, said Perry. ?EUR??,,????'??We wanted kids in wheelchairs to be able to move over the surface to the Thunderhead Climber, then transfer out and climb right up. That led us to the PlayTurf product.?EUR??,,????'??
According to John McConkey, product marketing manager for Landscape Structures, this system fills an important niche in the spectrum of accessibility options available to playground planners. ?EUR??,,????'??Wood fiber loose fill material is still the least expensive way to meet ASTM impact attenuating standards, but it?EUR??,,????'???s a poor choice for those seeking accessibility,?EUR??,,????'?? says McConkey. ?EUR??,,????'??Poured-in-place surfaces and tiles offer outstanding accessibility and good impact attenuating characteristics, but the cost of these alternatives is quite high. The cost of PlayTurf surfacing integrated with an Access Grid is less expensive than tiles or poured-in-place materials, and its impact attenuating characteristics are outstanding.?EUR??,,????'??
Although the world of play is changing and becoming more accessible and inclusive, Landscape Structures?EUR??,,????'??? Steve King sees more progress on the horizon.
?EUR??,,????'??I don?EUR??,,????'???t think that we have reached the end point as far as accessibility or inclusiveness is concerned,?EUR??,,????'?? says King. ?EUR??,,????'??We need to continually push the development of protective surfacing materials that are safe, accessible and affordable. We need to design more products like Sway Fun and Thunderhead Climber to enable kids with disabilities to be at the center of play. And we need people in positions of authority at our schools and parks who can see beyond the minimum requirements for accessibility and really try to achieve something great.
Equipment manufacturers, playground planners and parents have to work together to shape the future of play for our children. If there is one thing that I have learned in this business it?EUR??,,????'???s that there?EUR??,,????'???s no limit to what caring, committed people are capable of achieving,?EUR??,,????'?? said King.
Baylor College of Medicine reported in 1997 that children who do not play develop brains 20-30 percent smaller than what is normal for their age. Biologists who study play conclude that the brain stimulation received during play is critical to the growth of neural synapses in that play experiences help form and hardwire the brain circuits.
From the International Play Equipment Manufacturer?EUR??,,????'???s Association study ?EUR??,,????'??Play is Essential for Brain Development,?EUR??,,????'?? found at www.ipema.org.
Made from recycled rubber tires, PlayTurf can be integrated with an access grid to provide fall attenuation and wheelchair access.
A standard Transfer Module should be low enough for children to move easily onto the deck.
Displayed is an access wedge, which serves as a transition from a walkway to the loosefil surfacing of a playground.
It is the desire of the Playground Safety Initiative team and the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District to provide “SAFE” playgrounds for all students. The acronym “SAFE” stands for the following:
Raleigh, North Carolina
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
Hardscape Oasis in Litchfield Park
Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
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