ADA
Splash pads have jumped in popularity by bringing fun to a variety of public spaces. But there's one key factor to keep in mind in their design and installation, writes Chris Thomas, that helps these inviting, entertaining features serve the broadest possible spectrum of visitors. Creating inclusive play areas is a priority for parks, aquatic facilities and other public places where people gather. From the watershaping perspective, it's part of a current trend in which many recreation departments, homeowner associations, and community centers are installing
Designing swimming pools and spas for people with disabilities is a special calling for watershapers: The process gets you involved with sets of capabilities and physical limitations that force you to think beyond the usual; it also puts you in gut-level contact with the needs of those who crave involvement with water and its potential to ease pain, make aquatic exercise possible and, via simple buoyancy, make gravity less of
LifeGuard Lift (Eaton Rapids, MI) has introduced a line of pool lifts designed for residential…
New Push to Promote Swimming Lessons for Minority Kids in U.S.
Government Again Postpones DeadlineFor New Pool-Accessibility Standards
Last month, I opened a two-part discussion on healing gardens, a trend in landscape design that’s become popular among managers at hospitals and other healthcare facilities who desire spaces where patients, visitors and staff can spend a bit of time in nature to heal, set aside stress and otherwise regenerate themselves. In the time since I first became involved with these spaces, I’ve also seen demand for these gardens – known in other contexts as “tranquility gardens” – grow among
In our business, when we talk about people with disabilities, we always put people first: We speak of "people with brain injuries," for instance, or "people with arthritis" or "people with spinal injuries." That's an important distinction, because the language informs the entire mindset needed to help them improve their situations in the most effective ways. For starters, this "people-first" approach helps us avoid misleading generalizations: Often, we find that two people with nominally similar conditions or disabilities will have significantly different needs and that the methods used to treat each may prove to be significantly different as well. Everything we do at the Brown Center, in other words, must be based on the individual's own
In our business, when we talk about people with disabilities, we always put people first: We speak of "people with brain injuries," for instance, or "people with arthritis" or "people with spinal injuries." That's an important distinction, because the language informs the entire mindset needed to help them improve their situations in the most effective ways. For starters, this "people-first" approach helps us avoid misleading generalizations: Often, we find that two people with nominally similar conditions or disabilities will have significantly different needs and that the methods used to treat each may prove to be significantly different as well. Everything we do at the Brown Center, in other words, must be based on the individual's own
Increasing Access