FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 24, 2024
Contact: Rachel Ezekiel-Fishbein
Making Headlines PR
267-679-2463
Rachel@MakingHeadlinesPR.com
Municipalities and Parks & Rec Departments Are Invited to Provide Information about their Accessible Playgrounds for the App
STATE COLLEGE, PA – (July 24, 2024) – Within hours of cutting the ribbon for the new playground at Warminster Community Park in Bucks County, PA in May, the community’s Facebook page lit up with posts by parents grateful for the communication board. The board, an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ACC) tool using pictures and symbols to assist with non-verbal communication, suggested by a local speech pathologist, created a way for their nonverbal children to access the playground and play with other children.
Historically, inclusivity on the playground catered only to physical access for children with orthopedic disabilities, leaving out a vast number of children. Warminster’s new playground is emblematic of the evolution of inclusive play and greater recognition of neurodiversity.
“Across the Commonwealth, parks and recreation departments are planning and building playgrounds using Universal Design. These playgrounds are designed to meet all children’s needs in one place and create multiple opportunities for interaction between children with and without disabilities,” says Dan Hendey, Senior Education Manager at the Pennsylvania Recreation & Park Society (PRPS).
The CDC ranks Americans with disabilities as the largest minority group in the country. About 1:6 children in the United States have one or more developmental disabilities.
This month, in honor of the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), PRPS updated its innovative Park Finder app to help parents locate the closest accessible playground to their home or vacation spot. The app allows citizens to search any Pennsylvania locale by name, county, municipality or proximity and filter among 73 park amenities. Accessible playgrounds is now one of the amenity options, enabling parents to find a playground to fit their child’s needs.
The Park Finder app is located on PRPS’s good for you website, on which PRPS highlights all of the good to be found and enjoyed outside in Pennsylvania’s parks. The app provides details about 6,503 local and state parks across Pennsylvania.
PRPS represents Pennsylvania’s parks and recreation professionals. These municipal workers stand at the forefront of bringing Universal Design to playgrounds, informed by their interaction with children with differing abilities through the myriad programs they run in communities.
Jessica Fox, director of Warminster’s Parks & Recreation Department, says her community’s new playground was intentionally designed to create interaction while also providing spaces for children to retreat as needed, based on their individual needs. It shows children what they have in common and allows them to have fun together instead of focusing on their differences.
According to Landscape Structures, which builds accessible playgrounds, “when playgrounds are built with everyone in mind, it sends a message to the community that everyone is meant to be there, that everyone matters and everyone is meant to play.”
Municipalities can add their accessible playgrounds to the Park Finder app by emailing Samantha Locke, sam@pinephilly.com, with the playground’s name and address and details about accessibility features.
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