It's been a huge week. After two years of requests, Lily and the other kids with cochlear implants at her school, can now go down one metal slide without fear of damaging their electronic hearing equipment from electrostatic discharge. It's a dream come true. The slide is very fast and very popular with all the kids. Lily says the slide is a "madhouse." Building new vocabulary is just another advantage.
We celebrated the slide's accessibility, our donors and supporters with a ribbon breaking, speeches and cookies. The school's leadership has been so supportive. Many of the families were there to watch with amazement when the kids' hair didn't stand on end as they sailed down the slide. Having a metal slide makes it a little easier to breathe knowing our kids have one less barrier and risk to hearing.
I was proud to work with the other CI families to help to begin to make our school's playground accessible for all kids. This journey has moved the school's PTO to invest in "inclusive" playground equipment going forward. In fact, another new piece of equipment is going in this week. I was thrilled to hear that other parents thought that all kids, no matter the ability or disability, should be able to access the playground and not just be able to get on the rubber surrounding the playground.
While the two-year-old equipment was ADA accessible, it wasn't inclusive. With kids of varying abilities served in mainstream classrooms, it seems playgrounds are an area that needs to be given another look.
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