Laura Alvarez loves the playground – most of the time.
“I get stuck in my wheelchair in the sand,” said the fifth-grader at Blackford Elementary School in San Jose.
Young people with disabilities, and their advocates, are calling on San Jose to radically improve its park playgrounds so all children can enjoy the city’s jungle gyms and swing sets.
Some residents are pushing the city to go beyond the minimum accessibility standards required by federal law and design “boundless” playgrounds for people who use wheelchairs or have other physical needs.
“Our parks are grossly inadequate,” said Julie Matsushima, a San Jose resident who serves on the Parks and Recreation Commission and who is trying to persuade her colleagues and the city council to push for more funding. “If a child is in a wheelchair, once they get to the playground, there is nothing for them to do.”
In an area known worldwide for technology breakthroughs, Matsushima is hoping Silicon Valley will be a leader when it comes to its parks. Working with a national organization called Boundless Playgrounds, she believes accessible parks should be a top city priority.
This year, San Jose officials plan to take a closer look at playgrounds when the city updates its park master plan. Over the past two years, the city has set aside nearly $500 million to add about 20 acres of parks and pay for projects such as renovating Happy Hollow Park and Zoo.
Still, none of the city’s projects have all the elaborate features that some activists want.
“I definitely realize the importance,” said Matt Cano, division manager in the city parks department. “It is important that everyone has the opportunity to play. We understand the concern, and we need to do everything we can to try and accommodate.”
Advocates envision playgrounds such as those in some Southern California cities, where students in wheelchairs who cannot climb or walk up steps can move up and down on a jungle gym without help. Swings would be reinforced or specially built for youngsters who need torso support. A playground’s surface would be flat for easier wheelchair access. The playground would even have electrical outlets for kids who use suction machines or need to recharge their wheelchair batteries.
A playground that accommodates people with disabilities could cost $30,000 to $200,000 to build, according to Connecticut-based Boundless Playgrounds. Cano said San Jose has about 159 parks and a capital project budget of about $413 million for the next five years.
Advocates say such features are well worth the added cost and can brighten a child’s playground experience.
“Every child, with or without disabilities, should be able to play side-by-side,” said Kathy Andrews, director of communications for Boundless Playgrounds. “Most playgrounds exclude people with disabilities, and that is not right.”
Leslie Anido sees the problem first hand. A special education teacher at Blackford Elementary, she has experienced challenges on field trips when students snag their wheelchairs in playground sand or find it impossible to navigate creek trails.
The city’s parks, she said, “have met the letter of the law, but not the intent.”
She pointed to Arena Green in downtown San Jose as one of only a few local parks with some features for kids with disabilities. Wheelchair riders can get on the carousel by using a ramp – although there is no special seat for them to actually ride the horses. Some of the park benches also have cut-outs so people who use wheelchairs can roll up directly to them.
Darren Stevens, physical therapist for California Children’s Services, a state program, said many other local playgrounds fall short.
“The doorways into little playhouses are too narrow,” Stevens said. “The swings are not accessible because they don’t have the support – a lot of the kids need more trunk support and pelvic support. In general, these kids have a lot less options for recreation.”
Worse, he said, kids who can’t move around with ease on a playground may have emotional problems. “It is also socially damaging,” he said. “They want to be treated the same.”
Jacob Gutierrez, a fifth-grader at Blackford Elementary who uses a wheelchair, knows that feeling.
“That’s not fair,” said the cheery youngster, adding that he gets mad when he’s not able to do everything at city playgrounds.
Andrew Wicker, a fourth-grader at Blackford, said that even though he doesn’t have a disability, he tries to help kids who do when he sees them at a playground.
“If they need help, I will push their wheelchair,” he said.
Contact Joshua Molina at jmolina@mercurynews.com or (408)275-2002.
