The Importance of Creating a Barrier Free Recreational Facility at Borggaard Beach

• Anne Marsh, The Director of Thom Mystic Valley Early Intervention Program (TMVEI) has stated that they currently provide services for 450 children and their families. In any given year, between 700 and 800 children receive some level of services through TMVEI. At this time, approximately 12%, or almost 100 of these children live in Winchester. TMVEI fully supports the Borggaard proposal for its potential to meet the needs of children with disabilities throughout the Mystic Valley region.


• Current guidelines for playground design based on the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)call for providing access for people with disabilities primarily through the placement of transfer decks that connect play zones. However, because such facilities alone still don’t enable them to play, our design plans include barrier free play zones, which can be easily accessed and fully utilized by people of all abilities.


• Barrier-free play environments offer children with special needs the opportunity to play with peers and improve social skills, while children without disabilities learn to appreciate other people for what they can do, not for what they can’t do.