LASN is a photographically oriented, professional journal featuring topics of concern and state-of-the-art projects designed or influenced by registered Landscape Architects.
Issue link: https://landscapearchitect.epubxp.com/i/320919
June 2014 73 stimulated by sounds, activity and visual stimuli and need calming. Calming can include soothing or repetitious sounds or visuals, swinging, spinning and rocking, engaging with familiar textures, counting, walking familiar routes and contact with nature. Many ASD kids like to calm themselves in quiet, restful spaces or tight enclosed spaces. Still, these children are all different! Something that calms one might scare another, so variety is important. Many ASD kids have poor coordination and proprioception (perception of body movement). These kids need activities that let them feel what their large muscles are doing, such as pushing, pulling, climbing and lifting. They can get frightened or stuck on a challenging play structure, so you want appropriate challenges for coordination, but you also want alternative ways down or out from structures. ASD kids may prefer to be alone, but can benefit from gentle social interaction, such as taking turns or sharing play equipment. It's also good to know that kids with ASD have some typical physical needs that overlap heavily with those of kids with many other disabilities. The Existing Playground Salmon Bay K-8 has about 600 students, with over half in the middle school program. A typical recess brings 130 kids out onto this space. The middle schoolers eat lunch on the playground— all 300 of them, wandering around with Top the designers appreciate that playgrounds aren't just about physical endeavors, but socializing. the kids spend a lot of time in small groups discussing kid stuff on the cushioned, colorful surfacing. other can be seen crawling about on it. Bottom the middle schoolers, all 300 of them, eat lunch on the playground. they used to wander around the asphalt area and plop down somewhere on the blacktop. now, they converge on the 10-ft. diameter, 30-inch high concrete starfish-shaped planter (middle photo), which has a compacted crushed rock base, a concrete rat slab layer and a mortared 1-2-inch thick granite veneer. the flowering catalpa at the center will in time create a green umbrella shade effect. the slope creates a gentle challenge for kids who do not have a good sense of balance. Photo: AARon LeItz 70-77.indd 73 5/22/14 8:33 AM