Playground designs are moving beyond the wheelchair swing as the push for inclusive play spaces drives new guidelines and community fundraising efforts across Australia.
"You just literally wheel up under it and other kids can stand around, so they are all playing together … and it's pretty basic, it's not a massive change," Ms Jones said.
Water features, raised water troughs, swings with harnesses, wheelchair-friendly mazes and pictures of non-verbal communication symbols are other great inclusions."I think things can be shifted too far the other way," she said. "To actually give the thrill of a ride, like you get on a swing or a slippery dip, the Liberty swing is literally the only piece of equipment at a playground that a person who can't get out of a wheelchair can get that thrill on."
Ms Jones said the broader physical and social benefits of playgrounds needed to be considered when planning new developments."It's not like you are building a playground specifically for people with a disability … if we can start looking at is as more of a universal design that might shift how we view it."
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