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Hong Kong’s first inclusive playground helps children with special needs feel welcome
- The barrier-free playground encourages children of all abilities to play together in a safe, exciting environment
- It should help erase the stigma around special needs, although a recent survey shows many users of the playground lack awareness about inclusion
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Hong Kong’s first inclusive playground for children with special needs has been given the thumbs up, according to a survey of users. The facility is a step towards stamping out the stigma facing such children, says the organisation which carried out the survey.
The Tuen Mun Park playground – the city’s first barrier-free play space for children – opened in December 2018 after four years of planning by children’s organisations and educators.
The city government’s Architectural Services Department designed the playground, which is about the size of a soccer pitch, and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department runs it.
The park is all about engaging the senses, with an interactive water zone, sand area and music zone featuring built-in musical instruments.
The survey, carried out by Beyond, a foundation devoted to helping children with special needs and their families, showed that, while some two-thirds of respondents were very satisfied or satisfied with the playground, many did not know what inclusion meant.
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