Why an Inclusive Playground Benefits All Children

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When Fruzsina Elo’s first child was born he weighed 1 lb., 6 ozs., and it wasn’t until he was six weeks old that she was able to hold him in her arms — on Mother’s Day. On that day she made a promise to him: that she would do everything she could to make him happy.

Universal Design (UD) is an approach to design that increases the potential for developing a better quality of life for a wide range of individuals. It is a design process that enables and empowers a diverse population by improving human performance, health and wellness, and social participation (Steinfeld and Maisel, 2012). It creates products, systems, and environments to be as usable as possible by as many people as possible regardless of age, ability or situation.