Click here to read the digital version of this story on your computer, phone or tablet.

 

To most young families, a playground is a great place for family-time. But to parents of children with special needs, it can often bring about a great deal of anxiety, tears and frustration.

In a recent speech to a Boy Scouts troop, I tried to explain that to children with special needs, especially those in wheelchairs, you might as well put a moat with alligators around the playgrounds. Just getting to the equipment is almost impossible. Have you ever tried rolling a wheelchair through pea gravel? Even if your child can get to the equipment, there is usually very little to do. Accessible does not always mean inclusive.

My daughter, Katie, who was born with spina bifida, has experienced this frustration way too many times. This past summer we took a road trip. On the way, we stopped at a fast-food restaurant that had a “playland.” What might seem like a good break for some families turned into an emotional let-down for us.

Katie couldn’t climb in the play area without great frustrations and came out in tears. Luckily, we were heading to 

Morgan’s Wonderland, an newly opened, first-of-its-kind, inclusive theme park in San Antonio where children with special needs can enjoy rides, games and activities without frustration.

My family traveled to Morgan’s Wonderland with 30 other families with children with special needs who participate in the “I CAN! Dance” classes sponsored by Community Connections. The children and their “buddies” performed in the amphitheatre.

Morgan’s Wonderland was an absolutely wonderful summer vacation for all of us. We enjoyed a 25-acre park with fully accessible playgrounds with rubber surfaces throughout. A 36-foot carousel with wheelchair access and straps, an off-road adventure ride, an 8-acre lake with catch-and-release fishing, water cannons, and remote-controlled boats added to the fun. 

The “Sensory Village” inside the park has an auto fix-it shop, a pretend grocery store, and even a TV station where guests can forecast the weather on-camera. It also offers interactive sensory stimulation through the use of colors, lights, sounds and textures.

Admission for the person with special needs is free. Entrance for the person(s) accompanying the special-needs individual is $10, and general admission is only $15.

In Arkansas, we are a long way from having an accessible theme park like Morgan’s Wonderland, but some local organizations are adding inclusive playgrounds.

  • The Miracle League, which offers a baseball program for people with special needs, now has swings and other equipment added to the baseball park. Located on Cantrell Road in Little Rock, the playground allows families to hang out with each other before and after games.
  • Community Connections has been awarded a grant from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission to build an arts center for children with special needs in Saline County called the I CAN! Arts & Resource Center. The arts center will offer dance, theatre, art and music. Also in those plans, a treehouse will be connected to the building that will eventually lead to an accessible playground. Project completion is estimated for late spring 2012.
  • Camp Aldersgate, which offers the camping experience to children with medical or physical conditions, plans to unveil an accessible carousel by late spring or early summer 2012.

Each school district should consider how to make its playgrounds more inclusive for children with special needs. The exercise improves a child’s physical health and the play-time with peers improves the child’s emotional health. If Morgan’s Wonderland can be inclusive on such a large scale, just imagine what could be done on a smaller scale at parks and playgrounds all over central Arkansas.

OTHER RESOURCES