Inclusive Recreation for all ages and abilities

A senior who uses a wheelchair, asked me if I could let her know if there were any inclusive playgrounds  in in her city . I asked her to define inclusive playground. She said a park that would have activities for her to participate in. I couldn't think of many parks in her city   that are inclusive for her as person with a disability. Distance to a park is very important, especially so for people with special needs, and the few parks that are inclusive for her, are not convenient Use of a paratransit model can be part of the solution to this problem.

Paratransit works so that “individuals with disabilities who are unable to use accessible mass transit for some or all of their trips must be provided with paratransit." How about rather then just having fixed recreation equipment ( “accessible mass transit “) communities provide flexible inclusive recreation equipment (“paratransit”) available on demand.

Paratransit for Parks takes this concept to neighborhood parks. By supplementing fixed recreation equipment in parks (swings, jungle gyms ) with flexible recreation equipment (balls, hula hoops, lego sets etc) it should be possible to offer equipment that meets practically everyones recreation needs no matter what their ages or abilities. .

The document Paratransit for Parks discusses how to do this with physical recreation equipment. Here is how to do so with virtual recreation equipment.

 Most neighborhood parks in my city (NYC) offer a limited palette of recreation options, that do not meet the recreation needs of most developmentally normal people much less people with special needs . Here are ideas to meet a far larger proportion of everyone's needs.

-Distance
distance to a park is important, especially for people with special needs.

-Most people in the United States own a smartphone, and always carry it with them.  Inclusive recreation apps are as close as your smartphne


-Virtual reality equipment can transport you anywhere in the universe.

-Often recreation equipment for people with special needs  does not have to be special, it only has to be available. For example Lego Blocks are great for both developmentally normal people and also  people with special needs such as autism,and hula hoops are fun for people with visual impairments.

 A number of organizations have come to this same conclusion and have curated lists of recommended apps for a variety of special needs You can access those lists here