Inclusive Playgrounds

Pictures of wheelchairs, crutches, and ramps generally get less likes on social media by a mainstream crowd. Many of them erroneously think that they all represent a situation which is tragic, so the like should be skipped. They little understand that all of these are actually positive images as they encourage mobility and inclusiveness. Able people often use  regressive phrases like ‘confined to a wheelchair’ instead of ‘wheelchair user’. They don’t gauge that for a disabled person, it’s helping them move instead of imprisoning them.

It’s often assumed in schools that kids with disabilities need to sit on a bench during physical education classes, and only watch on as other children play and have fun, during his/ her school tenure. There was a boy in our school who had lost a limb. However, he stood along with his class in sports drill, and participated and races. He finished last in sprints, but still took part. Once, I heard a child say, “Oh, I love to hurt him on the playground. I know he will not be able to fight back hard enough as I can. So, I watch the fun when he’s in pain when I beat him.”

I heard that the boy had been enrolled to a cricket coaching club outside of school, and was progressing well. Children with disabilities need to be encouraged in sports and games. A way to do this is by having inclusive playgrounds in educational institutes. These sports arenas will have ramps, inclusive slides, ground level play activities, sensory activities, wheelchair accessible equipment, etc. Anti-bullying measures need to be taken on the sports turf.

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https://pixabay.com/photos/wheelchair-racing-track-disability-3673488/: Picture Courtesy: Image by Javier Robles from Pixabay