Playground for The Handicapped

UNABLE to run, climb or swing, most handicapped children can usually do little at a playground but watch wistfully as others enjoy themselves. But young patients at New York University Medical Center's Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine should now find their wheelchairs and crutches less hindrance to having fun. A new playground for them, and a model for other institutions like theirs, has been built with funds provided by the Office of Economic Opportunity. The 120-ft. by 40-ft. area contains an artificial waterfall under which the youngsters can walk or ride, a grassy knoll up which they can crawl, and a periscope through which they can peer over the fence. Shallow pools are set waist high so that wheelchair patients can bathe their dolls or sail their boats, and a huge foam-rubber mattress cushions a play pit for the more disabled. To give the children the experience of height, the park's designers have created a pair of redwood tree houses in real trees, reached by ramps from the ground. In one tree house, the youngsters will find a curved, enclosed slide that will give them a safe but exciting ride before it deposits them gently in the grass.

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