A Playground for Autism?

A playground designed for kids with autism? I can't decide whether this is human kindness or discriminatory. $25,000 spent on a playground for children with autism. My Lord. When the cute kids are 25 will they still be welcome on the jungle gym?  It makes my head spin.  Read more HERE.

Comments

[hellokittiemama]

I think it seems like the intention was good. But, no fence and no swings? Hrm...
Planning?

[Leila]

My city has a couple of sensory parks for kids of all disabilities, but all kids are welcome and the parks are always crowded. I think the autism-friendly park is a really cool idea, I don't think it means segregation in any way.

[Twyla]

I don't think the purpose of this park is segregation. I think they just tried to build a park which included some activities that kids with autism might like.

"'You wouldn't know this is autism spectrum-friendly,' said Alan Burton, vice president of the Kiwanis. 'This playground is inclusive.'"

"At this playground, each activity might interest a child with autism or any kid, for that matter."

I can see the point about needing a fence, and too bad that I guess swings are considered dangerous? And it is true that some kids with autism might just spend all their time at the park stimming on the gears instead of getting exercise.

But really, why bash a bunch of people who raised money to build a new park with the very best features they could think of?

I don't know whether or not they succeeded, but I commend them for trying to build a park that would be fun for kids both with and without autism, and I think this shows that autism is becoming more & more mainstream.

[Julie Swenson]

Couple o' things:

Don't most austic kids prefer toned-down colors--more muted, not more primary? Didn't Temple Grandin say as much? At my son's school for autistic kids, they often use more neutral-toned paper when children are doing projects and they seem to prefer it. It truly seems to help calm the kids and keep them focused. I know my son hates glaring white paper or table tops.

"plant barrier landscaping to keep kids from running into the road " ---not to be rude to the funders of this park, but did they actually talk to parents of autistic 'runaways', like my little son, who would certainly NOT be deterred at a row of closely-planted bamboo or box hedges designed to stop him from zooming headlong into traffic. I think a solid wall or tall chain-link fence would be better- it might not LOOK nice, but if we are talking saftey, then looks don't matter.

WHERE ARE THE SWINGS!? Autistic children love swings, mainly because it helps them center themselves. Vestibular motion is so important to our kids, not to mention they love swinging- like any kid!

Overall, I know the Kiwians hearts are in the right place, but a little more planning on their part would have been money better spent.

[Gatogorra]

Did any of the people quoted actually have a child with autism? That's what would tell me the most about their motives for doing this, whether this is parent driven or something smacking of the pre-T4 era in nazi Germany when inducements were presented to segregate disabled children further while putting a benevolent spin on it. The article did say "for the growing number of children with autism"-- which seem to concede an epidemic.

But, again, I hope it's not just "Keep your weird, scary kids off our kids' playground. Here, you have your own where you and your spawn can be identified and tagged. Now stay there".

[barbara]

i'll agree that the world could use, if not a special all-their-own place to play, then at least sensitivity training for their peers and even the parents of their peers.

last weekend at a little fair with 'rides' for kids, my son - who has autism, tho is high functioning, and a very slight spastic diplegia - was going on this very high slide. one had to not only negotiate a series of stairs, but a wiggly hanging bridge sort of thing that swooped from one side to the other to get to the long tunnel slide.
he was tentative with his steps as he made his way across the first time alone (i'd gone with him the first time, a common thing for us) he was proud at his accomplishment and rightly so.

then along came some bigger kids, running tho the ticket taker said to walk; pushing the littler ones in front of them out of the way...it had been going on all day. my son having been pushed til he melted down in the kiddies funhouse maze.

so i told the kids, three in descending age i guess'd and probably related, to 'please wait until my son gets across the bridge'. a woman came along side me and asked what was the matter. i related to her the facts of my sons condition (something i hate to do but sensed that the kids i'd addressed were hers and perhaps she'd understand better my interaction attempt with them if she knew)
she then used the mommy voice to reign in the oldest son, who had run right up behind zion on the rope bridge, making the whole thing shake and terrifying my boy, who none the less tried to use his words instead of melting down again.
the mom's words worked, for a minute, then the kids, perhaps aware that she really couldn't do anything about it from the ground,ran up behind him again...
just as zion was getting to the top of the slide, the oldest boy was almost right on top of him, so again i politely asked 'please let my son get down the slide before you start' (every request i made was also a part of the 'rules' for going on the slide)
at this point a man sidled up along the woman with whom i had spoken and rudely as tho i weren't there demanded of her 'what the hell is she yelling at my boys'...i was on my way to retrieve my son from the end of the slide when i heard his response to his wife's explanation. 'i don't care what the f*@% the kid has, if he can't handle it he shouldn't F*@%'ing be here!'

this is only one of many incidences involving play areas with so called 'normal' kids that has myself and my son too reluctant to frequent such places...public parks are no different here in the south at least.

[Kristin]

The crank things that spin----oh boy do I hate those!!!! My son used to just go up to them and turn the crank to watch the wheels or whatever lese was there spin. He would refuse to do anything else. In my world, an autism friendly playground would not have those. My son would just get "stuck" at that part of the playground and that would be it. Thank goodness he doesn't do that anymore. But I still get nervous every time I see those things-usually placed right under the slide i am trying to get him to go down!

[MacGoddess]

This playground doesn't even have a swing? Um, it seems to me that a large part of Occupational Therapy includes swinging, and the various types of similar movement, so how does this playground support children with autism? There should be several different types of swings, and a ball pool.

I remember having a hard time finding swings in the neighborhood playgrounds where I live. And right about that time, I also realized something. They have replaced all of the old metal and wood playground equipment with plastics. They have removed the swings in many cases, there are no real jungle gyms, and whatever happened to that round metal merry-go-round thing that you had to push to spin yourself around? The poles of the new equipment are all made way too wide for any hands to grasp around, which means that children are not getting any real exercise or opportunity to strengthen their muscles or aid in motor skills, etc. Is it fear of lawsuits or something more sinister?

[K Fuller Yuba City]

I agree, all playgrounds must do everything for every child. School Districts and Municipalities are so afraid of law suits that they have taken out all of the equipment that will naturally build working proprioceptive and vestibular sensory systems in *ALL* children. Where are the teeter-totters and the merry-go-rounds. Some of our local schools don't have swings or monkey bars. I totally agree that all playgrounds should be disability friendly. Lawsuits are sometimes unavoidable, but they can be minimized with that old time proven method... *Supervision*
I would bet that *ALL* children are going to be drawn to that playground. Children seek out what their brains need.
I am glad that somewhere, someplace there is a group of people who see a need and are trying to remedy it. But separating kids will not lead to a solution!!

[Ecki]

It doesn't sound like they are creating an "autism only" playground, more like an "autism friendly" playground and that's fine with me. Although they don't have swings in it! That's the ONLY thing my kids on the spectrum want to do when they go to the playground.

[sign lady]

I love the contraption pictured in the article - municipalities should install activities like that in all parks everywhere, not just in an "autism park."

I was troubled that not enough money has been raised for "border plantings to keep kids from running out into the road." How about a fence while you're at it? Knowing these kids' propensity to dart, the park's opening shouldn't have even been announced without that critical safety feature.

[Jeanne]

So let me see if I can get this straight, the city already has a park for special needs children - namely the physically disabled; now a park for "autistic children"... what's next? A park for children with Down's? A park for children with a lazy eye? Shouldn't all of these children be playing together?

And here's the best part...

"From afar, the playground looks like any other. It has dual slides, one large and one small, monkey bars and staggered landings of all heights. The bright primary colors and soft mulch base are all standard fare.... You wouldn't know this is autism spectrum-friendly... It's the extra features that make the playground special..."

Are they describing the playground, or our kids with autism?

Also, why does the park need to look like any other from afar? Is that important? We'll build a park for those kids, but it better look like every other park we have.

Wait, I am sure the park for the "physically disabled" does not look like any other park from afar... I don't get it.

All children should play together on the same park. Each park should incorporate different elements for every child.

How in the hell are we supposed to teach children tolerance when cities like this are segregating according to disability.