Redmond Needs More Inclusive and Accessible Parks

My name is Olivia Murphy, and I am an 8th grader who lives in Redmond. As a Girl Scout, I am working on my Silver Award, and I am interested in helping communities build more accessible and inclusive playgrounds. I have been visiting each of the Redmond city parks over the last couple of months to see which parks have accessible play equipment for kids who have different abilities. I was shocked to learn that nearly all of the parks in Redmond lack play equipment that can be used by children who might have a wheelchair or other mobility device, children who have sight impairments, and children with sensory needs. For example, many of the park systems have bark or mulch in the play areas. If you have a wheelchair, this makes it almost impossible to get to the play areas. There are virtually no signs in Braille, and limited play equipment that can benefit kids with sensory needs, such as those on the autism spectrum. Only two parks I've visited so far even have an accessible swing, and that's about the only equipment I have seen that can be used by someone in a wheelchair (and in both cases they would need to be lifted out of the wheelchair and be put in the swing, which is difficult for caregivers of older children and adults). I think we can do better in our city, and I am putting together a report that I hope to share with the mayor and the parks and recreation department. ALSO, the park guides in Redmond have icons for things like play fields or water features, but there is no icon for whether a park has accessible walkways or playground equipment! Why not? I think this is important and would help people figure out which parks are accessible to them if they need it.

I am interested in partnering with our city leaders to help find solutions for those in our community who cannot fully participate in our play spaces due to varying abilities. For example, we can raise funds for accessible swings and merry go rounds, put in solid surfaces instead of bark for mobility devices, and put in some signs in Braille, just as a start. Other communities have done this (like Harper's playground in Oregon, Magical Bridge playground in California), so why can't we? We could have one of the first truly inclusive playgrounds in King County, and one of the only ones in the entire state of Washington. I would really like to help with this effort!