Boundless Playgrounds® give children of all abilities a place to play and learn together.
By Tom Scott
Shouldn’t playgrounds be for everyone? That’s a question Amy Jaffe Barzach and her husband Peter had asked as they sought a meaningful way to honor the memory of their nine-month-old son Jonathan who had passed away in 1996 after being diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, a rare motor neuron disease that affects one in 6,000 births and causes severe muscle weakness.
“We had met with a hospice counselor who asked us to think of something we can do in memory of our son,” Amy says. Before Jonathan’s illness, Amy remembered witnessing a young girl in a wheelchair sadly watching her friends play at a playground, unable to join them because it wasn’t accessible. It’s a scene familiar to many parents of children with disabilities and one that the couple had felt needed to be addressed.
“When I saw that young girl crying, I thought to myself, someone needs to do something,” Amy says. “I will never forget her face. She was a very big inspiration to me. At the time I didn’t understand how much she would impact me personally. But if my son had survived, he would most likely have a disability just like that little girl and he would also have to watch from the sidelines.”
National Attention
In 1996, with support from 1,200 volunteers from five states, the Barzachs, who have three other children, Daniel, Alyssa and Michael, raised $300,000 to build the first 25,000 square foot inclusive playground, Jonathan’s Dream, in West Hartford, Connecticut.
The response to the project was so overwhelmingly positive that one volunteer suggested placing a small article in Time magazine to generate national attention. “It was a two-inch article that didn’t even include our phone number,” Amy says. “But we started getting inquiries from all over the country. We received calls from parents and grandparents, children, community leaders, corporations and foundations, civic groups, parks and recreation professionals, etc. It was amazing how many people were interested in what we were doing.”
Amy and Peter’s grassroots vision became national in scope in 1997 with the creation of Boundless Playgrounds, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting communities across the country develop inclusive playgrounds for children with and without disabilities. Its goal is to build these playgrounds so that every child in the United States lives within reach of one. Presently, there are more than 125 Boundlessâ„¢ playgrounds in over 20 states and Canada with many more under development.
A Subtle (But Substantial) Difference
Jonathan’s Dream and Boundlessâ„¢ playgrounds build upon the foundation of accessibility requirements from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), combining the best universal design principles with the best child development theories. The playgrounds are inclusive to children with not only physical disabilities, but also developmental, cognitive, and sensory disabilities.
Equipment is selected and laid out to present children with a fun yet challenging environment. For instance, there are universally accessible ramps and pathways that lead to the highest areas of the playground; elevated sand tables and activity panels; swings and spring toys with back supports and arm rests; and playhouses with double-sized doorways. Most differences from standard playgrounds are subtle, but would be apparent to someone with a disability.
“The real magic is that the areas with the most inclusive accommodations are often the most popular parts of our playgrounds,” Amy says. “If all children have an opportunity to play and learn together, it’s much easier for them to see each other’s similarities rather than their differences. It’s a way for each child to learn where they fit in the world.
“What we are trying to accomplish isn’t rocket science. It’s an idea whose time has come.”
Amy recalls meeting a 12-year-old boy with spina bifida named Michael who had been in and out of hospitals for much of his childhood and underwent numerous surgeries. “Early on in his life, he didn’t have any opportunities to play or interact with other children. We introduced him to a Boundlessâ„¢ playground near his home in Simsbury, Connecticut, and it had a very profound impact on him. He said ‘This playground isn’t different; it’s the other ones that are different.’ I had a chance to talk to his mom and she said the experience was very good for her son. It made him realize that he could be a child and that he was the same as everyone else.”
Beyond the Vision
Boundless Playgrounds’ reach has transcended far beyond what Amy and Peter had envisioned. Last year, the organization helped build a playground at Fort Campbell Army Base in Kentucky where injured soldiers returning from Iraq have an opportunity to play with their children despite having to use wheelchairs or crutches.
Through tools and resources, Boundless Playgrounds offers those interested in building an inclusive playground a strong professional support network and a detailed, in-depth strategy to make it happen. The organization does charge a fee for some parts of their programs and services (i.e., the use of Boundless Playgrounds’ name in promotion/fundraising efforts, project monitoring and assessment services, downloadable tools to help you manage your project, and sample communications and fundraising plans and materials from other successful Boundlessâ„¢ playground projects). The organization provides a resource guide, which covers how to establish a playground committee, determine budget, and gain community collaboration. In addition, dedicated professionals are available to help answer questions about the program and starting a Boundlessâ„¢ playground project.
“As a nonprofit, our goal really is to raise awareness and provide tools and services for people that will help them get started in the process of building a Boundlessâ„¢ playground in their community,” Amy says. “I wish we had a pot of gold for every concerned mom, dad, or grandparent who sees a child being excluded and contact us. Unfortunately, we do not, so we take on the role of cheerleaders and advocates for positive change. Our staff includes many talented professionals—architects, landscape architects, playground coaches, educators— who are all very important to our program. We may get a call from someone trying to build a Boundlessâ„¢ playground in their community who has an upcoming meeting with their mayor and isn’t sure what to say or someone who is approaching their community board or a municipal official with a proposal and is not sure what to do. These are all things our staff have experience with and can coach people through.”
Boundless Playgrounds’ success, in part, is due to the fact that a majority of standard playgrounds nationwide do not properly address the issue of inclusion, despite meeting the minimum ADA accessibility requirements. The ADA does not give a specific definition of what makes a playground “accessible.” In light of this, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (the Access Board) created a Recreation Advisory Committee that, in 1994, established design guidelines for playgrounds, adding technical and scoping provisions to the existing ADA accessibility guidelines (ADAAG), such as ground level and elevated play components, accessible routes, ramps and transfer systems, ground surfaces, and soft contained play structures. The guidelines have yet to be adopted as law by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Defense, so compliance with these standards by most entities when altering existing play areas or designing and constructing new ones is not enforceable on a large scale. “If you ask a majority of children with disabilities how they play on a standard playgrounds, 9 out of 10 of them would tell you they can’t and that it is difficult and humiliating, especially if they use wheelchairs or braces,” Amy adds. “And the fact is that most of these children want to interact with all children, not just those who have similar abilities.”
For more information about Boundless Playgrounds, contact Dina Morris, Communications Manager by e-mail at gmorris@boundlessplaygrounds.org or call 860-243-8315, ext. 108.
Tom Scott is staff editor.
