How can a playground make a difference for a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)?

Play matters for everyone, including children on the autism spectrum. Small playground design decisions can make a big difference between including or excluding those children.

Autism spectrum disorder, commonly known as ASD, affects how people communicate and interact with others. It affects how they make sense of the world. These traits are often accompanied by sensory issues, such an oversensitivity or under sensitivity to sounds, smells or touch. All these difficulties may lead to behavioural challenges in some individuals.

Personality Strengths of People with Autism

• Detail Oriented
• Strong long term memory skills
• Independent and logical thinking
• Intense focusing ability when working on a favourite activity
• Honesty and direct communication

Challenges faced by children with Autism

• Communication and expressing themselves
• Difficulty dealing with change
• Processing multiple senses, can become overwhelmed.
• Perceiving emotions of others
• Difficulty focusing on something other than their interest.
• Unbalanced set of skills

Playtime for children with autism is different than for kids without. They likely enjoy playing as much as the next child, but certain types of play could prove challenging. It isn’t uncommon for children with Autism to play differently from other kids in that they like doing the same thing time and time again without seeming to tire of the activity (i.e., spinning and watching the wheels on a toy car, or needing to build blocks the same way every time).

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, an estimated 164,000 Australians had autism in 2015 (ABS 2016). This represented an overall prevalence rate of 0.7 percent, or about 1 in 150 people. Due to an increase of awareness, the number of people with diagnosed autism in Australia has increased considerably in recent years, up from an estimated 64,400 people in 2009 (ABS 2014), making Autism the second most common primary disability in Australia.  

To learn more about Autism, check out https://www.autismawareness.com.au/

Social Play

Autism is a spectrum, meaning that characteristics can vary from child to child. Some are non-verbal, while others would have no problem speaking.

Some may only be interested in on-looker play, while others want to play alone or side-by-side with other children. Cooperative social play can be a challenge for kids with autism, and while it’s okay for them to want to play independently, it’s a good idea to provide him or her with the opportunity to play with other kids.

Sensory Play

People on the autism spectrum are likely to either seek or avoid sensory experiences.

Include opportunities for children to use their tactile, auditory, and visual sensory systems by adding many different textures, sounds, and things to look at. These might include freestanding musical equipment, interactive play panels, or fidget toys integrated onto a traditional modular play unit.

A Quiet Space: Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)

Sometimes, the sights and sounds and even smells of a busy playground may become overwhelming for a child with Autism. This can cause stress and lead to overstimulation, or a meltdown. This is known as Sensory processing disorder.

It is a good idea to include quiet zones or areas in a playground where children can go to re-group, focus, and calm down from any potential overstimulation.

Playground equipment such as The Quiet Grove was specifically designed to reduce the sights and sounds that can become overwhelming to create a calming space. The Quiet Grove combines soothing benefits of nature with sensory and fidget activities. This alleviates children’s stress and allows them to regain control and focus.

Sense of Space (Proprioception) and Balance 

To help children with Autism with their sense of space, include opportunities for children to work on their vestibular (sense of balance) and proprioceptive systems by spinning, swinging, jumping, climbing, and hanging activities.

Fencing around the playground

It is somewhat common for children with Autism to tend to wander off on their own.
For peace of mind of the parents or caregivers, it is a good idea to fence the playground, especially where there may be a busy road or potential hazards nearby.

Organise the Playground using paths

An orientation path gives children a level of control. They can walk around the entire playground and see what’s happening. Where is it the loudest? Where it is the busiest? Where are the quiet places? Where is my favourite thing to do?  

Once they observe the situation, they can determine where they feel comfortable playing. It may be different each time they go to the playground. After playing, they may choose to head back to the path to regroup and figure out where they want to go next.

Line of Sight and Supervision

Children can only play for as long as their parents / caregivers can supervise!

Ease of supervision is one of the most important parts which make up a truly inclusive playground. A parent / caregiver should be able to stand at almost all points on the playground orientation path and see their child. If there are many play zones within the playground, the line of sight should cross each play zone, allowing a caregiver to easily locate their child within the zone.

We Recommend the following play equipment to include in your playground

• Titan Carousel
• Balancing Trails
• Freestanding and interactive equipment and panels
• Quiet Grove
• Orbit Spinner
• Cosy Cocoon
• Unity Proton and Unity Nucleus
• Tango Swing Seat

Inclusive Playgrounds

If you’re looking to make your playground more inclusive, the experts at Austek Play can help. 

We are committed to providing innovate play spaces for everyone to enjoy. We want to help create spaces that celebrate the unique qualities that we all have and ensure we design spaces that allows these qualities to shine.

Together, we can make Australian Playgrounds more inclusive!

Contact us now!