Inclusive Play Centres

by Vanessa Griffin Accredited Access Consultant

Vanessa has over 20 years in the construction industry working in a variety of roles from the certification of buildings to the undertaking fire safety upgrades to existing buildings. More recently as an accredited Access Consultant at Vista Access Architects. Vanessa has a passion and drive for access, not only as an Access Consultant but also in the role of Vice President on the Board of NADO (Nepean Area Disability Organisation), and the Disability Access Committee for the Blue Mountains City Council.

As a mother of two children, an indoor play centre where kids can run themselves 'raggard' and I could sit back and watch them exhaust themselves whilst having fun, seemed like the perfect place. There was protection from the weather, I could grab a coffee and the kids would make new friends and play games with each other. These play centres seemed to be the perfect location, every other parent would rave about them. But, when you have a child with a disability, indoor play centres can be loud, overstimulating, and only for able bodied children, which removes the inclusive environment.

As the Vice President of the Board for Nepean Area Disabilities Organisation (NADO), I had seen an interview with the owner of a new facility known as the 'Shine Shed' which is an all abilities play centre located in Campbelltown. I did some research and the concept sounded like a great idea, but it was approximately 45 minutes from Penrith and not readily accessible for the participants of NADO, or the local area of Penrith. There is also no direct public transport link from Penrith.

I decided to pitch the idea to the NADO Board in a meeting. But with a different aspect to not just be a play centre for children with disabilities but make it welcoming and available to all members of a family and the community.

We agreed as a Board that the concept and idea was something that could benefit the community. As part of the due diligence and strategic planning. NADO appointed an external contractor to undertake a study of the proposal of an inclusive play centre by researching existing play centres (not just inclusive ones), including location, size of facility, potential set up costs and what other centres did not offer.

We decided to proceed with the proposal of an inclusive sensory activity centre and started researching for a location that would be big enough for the vision. A unit within a development, street appeal, parking and an accessible path of travel were key.

The site was secured, plans were lodged and approved by Council and the sensory activity centre was on its way to being delivered to the community (delayed only by the COVID pandemic).

NADO wanted the Centre to be different, and so with that in mind, an onsite café was included, available not only to the facility users but for anyone in the area. It includes a fully accessible toilet facility, male and female ambulant toilet facility and an adult change facility. This feature was very important to the organisation, to provide potential clients the ability to play, eat and have accessible bathroom facilities onsite.

While the planning was underway, the play area needed to be safe, and the biggest expense to the build was the flooring to be placed under the equipment. Regupol Safety Tile FX was chosen for specific reasons. The tile is rubber bonded fibres, with dual layer construction which is compacted, and meets the safety requirements of AS422/1-1999 Critical Fall Height Standard. The tiles can achieve compliance of up to 2.8m critical fall, and they provide good shock, noise and impact absorption. As the centre is indoors, noise absorption was key to ensure the centre was suitable for those who may have a disability where they are impacted by noisy environments The play centre provides:

• A liberty swing

• An inground flush transition spinner

• Wheelchair trampoline

• Jump Bag

• Monkey bars with two height which allows additional equipment to be rotated such as the nest swing and provides a skeleton for other activities

• A sensory room with an interactive projector

• A climbing wall

The choice of equipment was made in relation to the floor space available, provision of different equipment choices, and the ability to be inclusive with other family members. The equipment also needed to be able to be utilised by the Allied Heath Team to provide tools for the team to help, encourage, explore and develop the members of the community.

Safety was at the forefront and we were fortunate enough to have a Defibrillator donated by 'Friends of NADO' which is onsite for the purpose of First Aid.

The standout feature of 'Share My Ability' was the development of school holiday programs and a weekly creative art program durign the school term. These programs have been designed with specific outcomes to help improve fine motor skills, bilateral and hand/eye coordination, creative self expression, the use of different textures and mediums, to name a few.

Allied health practitioners are also on site, including an exercise physiologist, diversional therapist and physiotherapist available for bookings as part of the service provided. This was all part of the strategic plan of the Board of NADO to set this Centre apart from the other established centres.

NADO is NDIS approved for Share My Ability, which has been recognised by external providers who have also been booking session times with their clients in the centres as they have seen the value in the space and the opportunity and experience it provides to the client, and their family and carers.

This inclusive play space has been a wonderful, challenging and exciting project to deliver to the community for all to share, visit, explore and play. It is unique and something NADO is very proud of. Centres like these are so important. It means that children, parents and carers know there is a safe and inclusive place they can utilise.

Images courtesy of NADO Share My Ability

Image: Play area