"All people belong": How the inclusion playground should break down hurdles
Created: 2022-12-13Updated: 2022-12-13, 6:31 p.m
By: Bettina Stuhlweißenburg
The abandoned adventure playground at Nordgraben is deserted.
Alexandra Braunmiller (left) and Elisabeth Neuhäusler want to revive him.
Then children with and without disabilities should be able to play together here.
© TP
Whether shopping, at work or at school: people with disabilities encounter obstacles that make it difficult for them to participate in life.
Inclusion means creating structures that enable those affected to belong.
The initiators of the adventure inclusion playground in Miesbach want to take a step in this direction.
In an interview, the curative teacher Alexandra Braunmiller (54) and the mezzo-soprano and honorary representative for the disabled, Elisabeth Neuhäusler (57), explain what opportunities the project offers - and why it is important to promote it with donations.
How did you come up with the idea for the inclusion playground?
Alexandra Braunmiller:
I am a remedial teacher and accompany children in kindergartens who need individual support.
I experience how well children with and without disabilities can work together.
Children react completely impartially to one another.
But it is our responsibility to create space for this.
When I found out that they were considering reusing the closed adventure playground, I knew: this is it.
That's how it got rolling.
Elisabeth Neuhäusler:
The Miesbach recreation area support group, which had maintained the adventure playground together with the THW until its closure in 2020, was immediately enthusiastic.
He's very interested in getting a nice playing field there again, but with a breath of fresh air.
And the inclusion concept brings that in.
Also Read:
What Readers Help Readers Is About
What should a playground be like so that everyone can play there?
Neuhäusler:
First of all, it has to be barrier-free.
This means, for example, that the playground equipment can be reached via ramps.
But the hearing and visually impaired must also be able to find their way around.
Braunmiller: An inclusion playground also offers numerous sensory stimuli.
Last but not least, a well thought-out play area concept is important so that children with and without disabilities can play together.
Including play equipment allows all children playful challenges according to their own possibilities.
How does this work?
Braunmiller:
For example with listening and speaking tubes.
This gives a child who can climb a chance to play with a child who has to stay down because they can't climb.
It will be exciting to see what the kids make of it.
A wheelchair-accessible sand table is also being considered.
Then wheelchair users do not need help when they want to play in the sandbox.
Are people with speech disabilities also taken into account?
also read
Freezing rain and black ice: the weather service warns of serious accidents in the Miesbach district
READ
Winter barbecues: Hearty, healthy and tasty throughout the cold season
READ
Tips for bird feeding in the district of Miesbach: Desired - but please do it correctly
READ
Ski accident by Manuel Neuer on Spitzingsee: emergency services do not recognize the national goalkeeper at first
READ
Notarizations like on an assembly line: rush for new notaries in Miesbach and Tegernsee
READ
Fancy a journey of discovery?
My space
Braunmiller:
We got a great suggestion from Lebenshilfe Hausham: a communication board for people who can't speak or don't understand our language, like refugees.
On it are pictograms that depict terms: "Slower", "Faster", "Come with me!".
In your opinion, what opportunities does the inclusive playground offer?
Neuhäusler:
In the past, people were not aware of the issue of inclusion.
My now 28-year-old son, who is mentally and physically handicapped, attended the Straß kindergarten in Miesbach.
Nobody talked about inclusion back then, but it worked well because the other children learned how to support him.
This matter of course is desirable, and we want to achieve this with an inclusion playground.
Many people are afraid of contact: How do I deal with disabled people?
May I offer my help or is that perceived as hurtful?
We want to break down this inhibition threshold.
Of course, we hope that the planned adventure inclusion playground will become a lighthouse project that will serve as a role model for other playgrounds.
In what way?
Braunmiller:
It would be great to consider what barriers there are on other playgrounds and how to retrofit them accordingly.
An inclusion playground is not only aimed at children with disabilities.
There are also parents and grandparents with disabilities who would like to accompany their child or grandchild to the playground equipment.
Of course, not all play equipment can be used by everyone.
So we have to find a middle ground.
It is important that there are alternatives on playgrounds.
Groundbreaking should be in May. Can you do it?
Neuhäusler:
Of course, something can come up.
With a view to inflation, we also assume that the playground will be more expensive than the 220,000 euros calculated in March.
But we are energetic and put a lot of energy into it.
We approached numerous private individuals, companies, foundations and institutions with our request for financing.
How are potential sponsors reacting?
Braunmiller:
We feel a lot of support.
Music groups, for example, give benefit concerts in support of the playground.
With our crowdfunding on the Raiffeisenbank platform, we generated more than the originally announced EUR 7,500 well before the end of the term.
This is a great confirmation of what we are doing. And it fits in with our basic idea, namely to inspire society as a whole for inclusion and to achieve something great together.
Why is there little inclusion outside of integration day-care centers?
Neuhäusler:
I think it's because of the structures.
Spatial and structural conditions.
But also social.
For all these hurdles, a change in consciousness is urgently needed.
It is our task to create the conditions for all people to naturally belong in their individuality.
We hope to take a step in this direction with an inclusion playground.