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ERIC ED433673: Accessible & Safe Playgrounds into Every Town, U.S.A. PDF

8 Pages·1996·0.19 MB·English
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DOCUMENT RESUME EF 005 128 ED 433 673 Kienitz, E. Malle; Kent, Robert L., Jr. AUTHOR Accessible & Safe Playgrounds into Every Town, U.S.A. TITLE 1996-00-00 PUB DATE 6p.; In: 1996 Annual Meeting Proceedings: American Society NOTE (Wagner, Cheryl, Ed.) p136-140. of Landscape Architects, For "1996 Annual Meeting Proceedings": ASLA Bookstore, P.O. AVAILABLE FROM Box 753, Waldorf, MD 20604-0753 (Order #6234,$25 ASLA member, #28 non-member). Tel: 800-787-2665 (Toll Free). Speeches/Meeting Papers (150) Descriptive (141) Reports PUB TYPE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE *Accessibility (For Disabled); Elementary Education; DESCRIPTORS *Elementary Schools; *Playgrounds; *Public Schools Cost Containment; *Landscape Architecture; *Playground IDENTIFIERS Design; Playground Equipment ABSTRACT Landscape architects, playground manufacturers, and the federal government have all developed guidelines for accessible, safe play landscapes. This paper examines the difficulties in meeting these guidelines due to two main obstacles: ignorance of access needs and the perception that accessibility is expensive. It suggests that landscape architects have the skills to design access at a reasonable cost because they can evaluate sites for their potential advantages and drawbacks. The paper argues for playground layouts that allow handicapped and able-bodied children to play together. Concluding comments briefly address the needs for other playground components that include water, shade, and areas for supervising adults. Line drawings of two playground design concepts are included. (Contains 16 references and 7 notes.) (GR) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** D U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS )(CENTER (ERIC) BEEN GRANTED BY This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization _aianeScheu originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. TO THE EDUCATIONAL Points of view or opinions stated in this RESOURCES document do not necessarily INFORMATION CENTER represent (ERIC) 1 official OERI position or policy. ACCESSIBLE & SAFE PLAYGROUNDS INTO EVERY TOWN, U.S.A. E. Malle Kienitz and Robert L. Kent, Jr. Landscape architects, playground manufactur- attitude, because complaints from their town have ers, and the federal government have all researched been filed with the Department of Justice, which will and developed guidelines for accessible, safe play follow up on correction of the problem. landscapes. The results are available in guidelines, It takes an understanding of disabilities, manu- standards manuals and in technical sections of the facturers, public sector concerns, and work in a A.D.A. (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) range of budgets and spaces to create access where The problem is to create playgrounds that itself. needed. A designer working on accessible play land- meet these guidelines in the all the towns, cities, and scapes often needs to spend time with playground communities where children actually play. The State committees; recreation personnel and other decision of Rhode Island did a safety and accessibility survey makers to help them understand that buying a play of all public playgrounds. None met the standards for structure with a transfer platforms cannot be a com- safety and accessibility [Rhode Island, 1993]. This plete solution to an accessible playground. condition exists in other areas of the country as wel1.2 Some clients will not even consider a transfer Over 25%3 of the population has some form of platform. Others need to understand that pathways disability, temporary or otherwise, using different to the equipment and the safe fall surface around the skills or abilities for a task than commonly used. piece must be accessible. Often structures pre- Some achieve motion without using their legs, others designed by equipment manufacturers have only one learn to pay attention without being able to hear, etc. accessible section which can be reached using a The basic tenet in playground safety guidelines is transfer platform, in essence a "disabilities only" allowing children to make their own choices for play zone limited to those who can transfer. Other por- without being injured by unperceived hazards tions of the structure will be inaccessible because the [Tinsworth, 1992; Wallach, 1990, 1992]. Playground connecting pieces are overhead ladders, a difficult safety has come a long way through design changes piece for some able-bodied children, or another inac- made to playground equipment and materials. cessible connection (fig. 1). CO Creating accessible play must still overcome the first' In other cases, the other consultants on a project hurdle in that statement: providing all children the will not have considered access to play except by des- opportunity to make their own choices when they ignating a blank square area for a play structure. Im play on the new, safer equipment. Our profession Accessible site circulation to play is needed, and can offer significant value to society by providing redesign will be necessary if the landscape architect in learning experiences for all children. has not been involved from the beginning of the pro- The two obstacles most commonly encountered ject. Design firms are not always up to date on all the O in the effort to design accessible and safe play- needs fo"r play design and will need to be informed O grounds are ignorance of access needs and the per- about the state-of-the-art techniques. ception that accessibility is expensive, a hardship for As an example of a similar situation, manufac- communities with tight budgets. Some communities turers have spent more than a decade redesigning have been forced to act on access, regardless of their equipment and surfacing to meet the first and second 1996 Annual Meeting Proceedings of the American Society of Landscape Architects 2 set of C.P.S.C. [U.S. Consumer Product Safety ilar cost as an inaccessible one would have been with Commission 1981, 1992] guidelines for playground just as many play opportunities for the money. safety. Every illustrated playground in play catalogs It is important to have access to upper levels for warns clients to install a safe-fall material around all children regardless of the notion expressed to us their equipment. Playground articles in magazines by a recreation director, who said, "They can't do always mention safe-fall material. Newer catalogs anything up there." Some children, not able to trans- give proper safe-fall dimensions for each piece. Yet fer, can slide with a helper alongside on a standard many public playgrounds exist today without safe- play piece, the double slide: two going down fall material,5 and the public sector has a lot of indi- together. Various standard pieces have potential for viduals who are confused about appropriate safe-fall. kids independently or with help, given circulation One Department of Public Works head in a access. A further reason for upper level access is the California community stated that sawdust was what adults supervising children. The disabled parent he intended to use for safety. It is not on the list of needs access to his/her child too. approved materials, nor is it accessible! Two other important types of learning occur on The work to make play accessible will take the the upper level besides physical development. They same kind of persistent, long-term effort, trying to are: (1) social play, the ability to join other children reach everyone, anywhere who is involved in deci- playing above, and (2) the development of kinesthe- sions about playgrounds in their communities. Our sia, the sense of oneself in relation to one's environ- profession is in an excellent position to affect deci- ment. People in wheelchairs particularly enjoy the sions about play landscapes since we are directly sense of looking down onto something from above, involved in the design of many of these. after spending so much time looking up. As landscape architects we have the skills to The safety designed into standard play equip- design access at a reasonable cost because we can ment and safe-fall material provides protection for evaluate sites for their potential advantages and draw- every user. Safe-fall material provides the same backs. Controlling or taking advantage of landform is degree of cushioning for everyone. Guard rails often one cost effective way to gain access. It has the designed to prevent bicycles from riding off upper advantage of appearing as an intrinsic part of the site platforms also protect wheelchair users from passing rather than an obvious "handicap" feature. The best through. Turning access approach at a right angle to expression of access is achieved when everyone enters the ramp discourages bicycles from riding inside.6 the site or the site features along the same approach. All of the above can happen on a public play- Separate but equal is not the intent of the A.D.A. ground, within the project budget, using standard Taking advantage of landform has worked to our equipment, if the designer reviews the layout of the advantage on many sites. People often don't realize play structure, whether created by the design office that a playground surface does not need to be flat. or the manufacturer, and the site (fig.2). Check for Manufacturers sometimes have difficulty with grad- complete access to all pieces so children can chose ing concepts that raise or lower the ground around for themselves what they will do. Review play pieces equipment even at small percentages. Fortunately, for use by different abilities on both upper and lower the posts still work. levels. Ensure properly designed access from conve- At one playground designed in Rhode Island for nient handicapped parking spaces to the play struc- the Easter Seals school, 80% of the children were in ture and around its lower levels. wheelchairs, many unable to use transfer platforms. Other important components for play land- With only two ramp pieces, directly from the catalog, scapes for everyone include water, sand, and grass one at each end of the structure; we used the existing made accessible. While found in professional articles grade to create access to the upper level deck, allowing and books for accessible play [Arroyo, 1990; students and their able-bodied visitors to play together. Goltsman and Driskell, 1992], the general public is Other equipment on that structure was all stan- not aware of these needs, and we must actively dard manufacturer's play pieces. Some of the play encourage these features. Drinking water and shade experiences which develop hand-arm coordination: in proximity to play are not only needed for rest and steering wheels, phones, tic-tac-toe games, etc. were refreshment, but also by some children with disabil- used as enclosures on the upper level. The access ities who have trouble with photosensitivity or body ramp became everyone's main entry to the upper temperature [King, 1996]. Accessible benches are level, and the whole play structure was built at a sim- needed both for social play and supervising adults. The Profession: Design United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. Using contrasting and bright colors in comprehensi- 1981. A Handbook for Public Playground Safety. 2 ble patterns which enhance the play, making it more vols. Washington: USCPSC. exciting, will help orient people with low vision7 or developmental disabilities. -. 1992. Handbook for Public Playground Safety. All of these measures to make play landscapes Washington: USCPSC. accessible are within our area of expertise and capa- United States. Dept. of the Interior and Dept. of Agriculture. bility. We can truly make a difference in the lives of The National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service. many children if we persist in educating, in commu- 1990. "Design Guide for Accessible Outdoor Recreation." nicating our knowledge. Let all our kids play, and let Interim draft for review. San Dimas, CA: USDA Forest all adults help their children when they need to. Service Technology and Development Center. References Wallach, Frances. 1990. "Playground Safety." Parks Arroyo, Frances. 1990. "Designing Play for All." Parks and Recreation 25.8: 46-50. and Recreation 25.8: 41-43. -. 1992. "Hazard Identification." MRPA seminar. Droz, R. and M. Rahmy. 1972. Understanding Piaget. Trans. Weyland, MA. 20 March. Joyce Diamanti. New York: International Universities, 1976. Trans. of Lire Piaget. Paris: Editions Charles Dessart. Notes and Dave Driskell. 1992. "Beyond Goltsman, Susan M. 1. The list of references contains all the documents the Curb Cut." Landscape Architecture 82.4: 84-87. referred to by this author. Various states have also created their own laws and standards. Please refer to those for King, Patricia. M.R.N., M.S., Director of Patient Care more information when designing in a particular state. Services, Shriner's Hospital. 1996. Telephone Interview. 25 Jan. 2. This is based on observations by our firm over the past 10 years as we have designed over three hundred Clarke, Kathy. M.S. Easter Seals of Rhode Island. 1995. playgrounds for towns of all sizes. Conversation with Author. 22 Sept. 3. Page 2 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Newcombe, Nora. 1982 "Development of Spatial states that 43 million Americans have some form of dis- Cognition and Cognitive Development." Cohen, Robert. ability. This is approximately 25% of our population. Children's Conceptions of Spatial Relationships: New Directions for Child Development. 65-82. 4. A transfer platform is a deck or other elevated surface with the proper height (varies by age: 12 to 17 in., [Architectural Rhode Island Department of Health. 1993. Playground and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, 1992]) and Safety: A Report on Rhode Island's Municipal accessible location to allow a child to approach and transfer Playgrounds. Providence: State of Rhode Island and from the wheelchair to the other surface. Providence Plantations. 5. Based on same range of observations as cited in Subcommittee F15.29 on Playground Equipment for note no. 2. We have designed playgrounds for most Public Use. 1995. Standard Consumer Safety Performance areas of the country, and have seen other playgrounds Specification for Playground Equipment for Public Use, all around them which are dangerous. ASTM Designation: F 1487 - 95. Philadelphia: American Society for Testing and Materials. 6. Non-standard use of equipment cannot be entirely pre- vented by design since one of the reasons children play is Tinsworth, Deborah Kale. 1992. "Report on Hazards." to test the relationship of things in their environment and MRPA seminar. Weyland, MA, 20 March. their own effect on them [Newcombe, 1982]. Logical thinking as practiced by adults, does not emerge until United States. The Architectural and Transportation approximately the age of 12 as discussed by child develop- Barriers Compliance Board. 1992. Recommendations for ment scientist Jean Piaget [Droz and Rahmy, 1972]. Accessibility Standards for Children's Environments. By Encouraging supervision, posting rules, using standard war- The Center for Accessible Housing. Washington: G.P.O. ranted equipment, and meeting safety guidelines are neces- sary steps when play is open to public use [Wallach, 1992]. United States Congress. 1990. Public Law 101-336 - July 26, 1990: Americans with Disabilities Act of 7. Yellow is the last color to be lost as vision deterio- 1990. 101st Cong. Washington: GPO. rates or is poor [Clarke, 1995]. 4 1996 Annual Meeting Proceedings of the American Society of Landscape Architects 138 Notes 4. Overhead ladder-type pieces are barriers when used as linkages 1. No wheelchair access & transfer between decks station only serves one deck area 5. Some attachments/pieces are 2. Access by steps difficult for difficult to use. crutches 6. Edging is a barrier 3. Multi-level decks: difficult with crutches, impossible for wheelchairs Figure 1. Common problems for access in standard playground structures BEST COPY AVAILABLE 5 The Profession: Design EASTER SEALS PLAYGROUND EAST PROVIDENCE, SCALE1 Is - 7' 14P9P.41 LEVEL MEN ACTUAL AREA St* X 42 1 6ce", (NOT 14CLUDWG BERM) A PROTECTED AREA SEP X 48' PLUS BERM 102013 WNW P4/4311011. 10154 MMEARASIC SLIDE P39/ PPM Alm0111114 aJDE protIAls by 411FA !Irk CrIfTlErfrf7V 2 Champ SSW, Nortmelds, NY 10300 0114313110-2091 Pat old Rnraid Wpm/a Fos 1934) 90-2101 FORT PAYPE, AL 4. Linkage between decks (bridge) is Notes accessible 100% of lower and upper level 1. 5. Double/multiple slides allow accessible racing, helpers, and an alternate type of access for some children. 2. Ramp access to upper level play enclosures. ,6. Some standard climbers are easier for everyone to use. 3. Deck large enough for wheelchair to turn around Figure 2. Standard equipment used to achieve access. BESTCOPYAVAILABLE 6 140 1996 Annual Meeting Proceedings of the American Society of Landscape Architects U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) National Library of Education (NLE) Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) REPRODUCTION RELEASE (Specific Document) I. DOCUMENT IDENTIFICATION: Accessible and Safe Playgrounds into Every Town, U.S.A. Title: Kienitz, E. Ma lle; Kent, Robert L. Author(s): Publication Date: American Society of Landscape Architects Corporate Source: 1996 II. REPRODUCTION RELEASE: In order to disseminate as widely as possible timely and significant materials of interest to the educational community, documents announced in the monthly abstract journal of the ERIC system, Resources in Education (RIE), are usually made available to users in microfiche, reproduced paper copy, and electronic media, and sold through the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). 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