At Haisley School: A Playground for All

Over on the west side of Ann Arbor, Haisley School has some new additions to the playground. Haisley has several children who use wheelchairs at the school, as well as some kids with autism. In fact, the district has placed three self-contained classes at Haisley, and in addition there are several kids with disabilities who are in the general education classrooms.

I used to love to climb on these. Here's one at Haisley.

And for the kids with disabilities--especially the kids who use wheelchairs--it was difficult, if not impossible, to play on the playground. 

These are not accessible

These provide a similar ride,
but they are accessible

Compare these two play structures. Notice the ramp on the blue structure?
The red structure offers lots of opportunities for kids who can climb--
but not everyone can. It's nice to have both!

In the accessible play structure, there is room for a wheelchair to turn around.

Kids can climb in and out, but a kid in
a wheelchair will not fall out.

A view of the ramp.

An accessible swing--but I saw a lot of able-bodied kids enjoying it too.

The sinking fund paid for the costs of adding the accessible equipment ($60,000). Over the years, the teachers of Haisley's self-contained classrooms were concerned that their students have good playground choices. The playground was designed with both physical accessibility and the interests of children on the autism spectrum. A big thank you to teachers Lisa Piegdon, Erika Cech, Kim Krug and teachers assistant, Sue Monkiewicz, who advocated for--and helped plan--the playground.

I think recess is super important.

*All photos by Ruth Kraut, at the Haisley playground.



UPDATE 11/23/2013: Also, Sarah Kerson did a Michigan Radio Environment Report on this playground (read or listen to it here) and in that report, they mention that NPR has a map of accessible playgrounds around the country posted on its web site! [Here is the link.] If you find yourself traveling and looking for one, there is even a smartphone link at npr.org/playgrounds. I added information about the Haisley Playground to the accessible playground web site. The other playground on there in the area is the High Point playground at the WISD. Slightly further away, there is also the Imagination Station in Brighton.