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Child's Play: Miami-Dade County Opens Its First Boundless Playground, Planned so Children With and Without Disabilities Can Play Together at a West Kendall Park

Posted on: Thursday, 18 May 2006, 09:10 CDT

By Yudy Pineiro, The Miami Herald

May 18--Miguel Angel Caballero Perez, who suffers from cerebral palsy and depends on crutches, said Miami-Dade County's first barrier-free playground for children with and without disabilities proved easier to get around than other play areas -- but could be even easier.

"It could be all ramps," the 11-year-old said after getting stuck climbing some steps of the Westwind Lakes Park, a boundless playground in West Kendall at 6805 SW 152nd Ave.

Even as the boundless playground proved hard-to-climb for at least one physically disabled child, Americans with Disabilities Act regulation experts, playground backers and architects hail the play area as truly barrier-free.

"There are steps, but there are a lot of ramps, too," said Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Joe Martinez, who represents the area and sponsored the project. "It's 90 percent accessible to all children so they can play with each other."

County officials recently unveiled the 7,800-square-foot playground. The $490,000 project was paid with a Health Foundation of South Florida grant, Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond, Quality Neighborhoods Improvement Project and tax monies.

The idea behind it: All children -- regardless of ability -- can play together.

"It helps the self-esteem of the child with a disability and the one without the disability to learn sensitivities," said Arlene Bouza-Jou, who recently took the disabled children she works with at a Tamiami Park after-school care program to the park.

According to a checklist on the Boundless Playgrounds website, unparalleled features of a boundless playground are a ramped route to the highest point of the play structure, and elements of all the senses for children with developmental or emotional disabilities.

Most playgrounds at the very least offer walking paths for the physically-disabled. But Westwind Lakes' goes further. Among other things, it features Braille and word games, livening colors, rubber floors, and ADA-accessible ramps through most of the play area.

"There are some things -- that are climbing -- that disabled children wouldn't be able to do," said Karen Iobst, program officer for Health Foundation of South Florida.

Michael Brennan, an expert on ADA regulations who is confined to a wheelchair, is all for a playground which beats the minimum requirements.

More boundless playgrounds are planned in the county, including one in the Village of Palmetto Bay.

On a recent weekend, a spirited and cheerful Miguel raced to the playground. And gleeful as can be, rushed up a ramp.

His mood dampened when he reached a step and struggled to lift his feet -- encased in casts and Superman-decorated braces.

"I'm stuck," Miguel shouted to his mom. "I need some help."

Maria Caballero Perez, a mom who feels the steps are good because they promote exercise and practice, grabbed her son's feet -- stuck between steps -- and helped him up.

She told him: "Stand here. I'll hold your crutches and you slide down yourself."

Smiling all the way down, Miguel slid. His newfound playground friends cheered him on.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Miami Herald

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Source: The Miami Herald

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