It’s not every day that I get a chance to have a playground tour with an expert in children’s special needs. But that’s just what happened recently when Anita Allardice, Principal and Program Director at Glankler Early Childhood Learning Center, graciously devoted part of her whirlwind morning to visit with me at her newly installed, Landscape Structures “Nature Themed” playground at Glankler, a special needs school owned and operated by the Fremont Unified School District. I wanted to learn more about Allardice’s kids, and how they use and benefit from a well designed outdoor play space.
She and her Staff explained that while most of Glankler’s students have speech and language impairments, many have autism and other types of sensory processing disorders.
“The new playground has been a huge success”, reported Allardice. “Ross Recreation was able to work with our very tight timeline” The new playground – including the rubberized safety surfacing and trike track – was built in 45 days from time of order.
The new playground’s Roller Slide was a big hit with kids, especially those with tactile system impairments, reported one of the staff. The Nature Inspired features offer different textures that stimulate the kids’ tactile systems.
In the last year, Ross Recreation has helped design and install six different special needs playgrounds, using equipment from Landscape Structures, the leader in Inclusive Play. Call us for details, or visit our Projects section.
By Ewing Philbin
