Our Community Needs an All-Inclusive Playground
11 percent of students in the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District – nearly 3,000 children – have a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act. But our community has no all-inclusive playground where these children can improve their physical, cognitive and social skills side-by-side with their non-disabled playmates in an inclusive environment.
These children are outside normal play environments, looking in, and missing out on a vital component to healthy development that often will affect them through their adult years.
Working together, we can do better for the children in our community. We can create a place where the vitally important child’s work of play can happen for all of our children, a place where the senses are stimulated and physical skills are improved, while social acceptance of differences is encouraged.
And the need doesn’t extend just to children. Many parents and grandparents with disabilities or mobility challenges are unable to experience the simple joy of taking the children they love to a playground, because of the same access problems our current playgrounds present to children with disabilities.
We need to give the important gift of play to so many in our community.
Brooklyn’s Playground is the answer.
(Want to know more? Download the “Brooklyn’s Playground Case Statement” on our Downloads page by clicking here.)
