A brand-new play area at Salisbury River Park opened on 21 August and is sure to be a vibrant new space for area kids. Local mom Rebecca Hemingfield Budge is devastated. Her frustration stems from the inaccessibility her two-year-old daughter, Hannah, who has cerebral palsy faces. As Rebecca claimed, the park doesn’t include enough elements that allow children with disabilities to play, leaving her overwhelmingly frustrated and disappointed.
The new play area includes an assortment of inclusive equipment, including swings, slides, turntables and climbing structures. Although these amenities serve a wide range of children, they don’t serve all children. Caring for Hannah Hannah is non-mobile and non-verbal, and without a nasal cannula, she asphyxiates. Rebecca told us that there just wasn’t anything in the play space that Hannah could interact with given her condition.
The layout of the park was planned with extra wide slides so parents could go down with their kids. Local parent and activist, Kez Adey, has expressed concern over how practical this feature would actually be.
“There’s nowhere for parents to easily access this slide. There’s a tiny ladder on the side, which I wouldn’t get up personally,” – Rebecca Hemingfield Budge.
So the next time they visited, Rebecca didn’t take Hannah into the play space. She thought it “wasn’t right” for her daughter to see other kids playing, but not be able to participate herself. She didn’t pull any punches about her exasperation. She thought the park’s design was well-intentioned but poorly executed.
“Although the thought’s there, they’ve not completed that thought,” – Rebecca Hemingfield Budge.
Council leader Sam Charleston acknowledged that it was about time inclusivity became the norm in public spaces. He highlighted that there are now concrete provisions being made for neuro-divergent children. He acknowledged that this provision could indeed be “possibly better.”
On the negative side, Able Seaside Kez Adey lamented that the new park’s design failed disabled children. She noted that the design functions great for able-bodied kids. It does not do nearly enough to truly serve children with disabilities.
“For non-disabled, non-divergent children. It is absolutely amazing,” – Kez Adey.
Rebecca’s anger and disappointment come from her conviction that the park ought to be available to all children. She likened the journey to being handed a magical key ring full of opportunities. Then she began to find out that none of them were really accessible for her daughter.
“It’s like taking a child and saying, oh, there’s lots of sweets you can have, and then going in there and saying, well, actually, no, there isn’t,” – Rebecca Hemingfield Budge.
The park’s design incorporates step ladder-like steps to access the slides. Many of these parents feel that these measures don’t go far enough to give their children access. Other parents testified about the burden placed on parents of disabled children who have to navigate complex and confusing options that are not made readily accessible.
