Celebration of fun, inclusion with Let’s Play Salmon Bay | Events

As the new Salmon Bay School playground moves toward construction and a fall 2012 opening, conversations about inclusion, disabilities and play are springing up.

“You can’t see the ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) person’s disability,” said Robin Lofstrom, organizer of the push for the new playground. “They’re not blind, they’re not in wheelchairs, etc.  But, the disability is real. And when kids can’t play together, then the ASD child misses out on the important opportunity of learning how to make and be a friend.”

Lofstrom said many playgrounds unintentionally tell certain groups of children they can’t play, and she is glad this conversation is happening.

And, in the spirit of fostering that conversation, the school will host Let’s Play Salmon Bay, a community festival dedicated to play, inclusion and fun, Oct. 22.

It will be an opportunity to learn more about the new playground, which is being designed with ASD children in mind, and ASD itself. There will be a potluck, fresh-pressed apple juice, games, face-painting, a sing-along and more.

Lofstrom said Ballardites need to not only support the project with donations but also with outreach.

“Folks in Ballard need to know about the project – it’s ultimately theirs, in a big way,” she said. “And, Ballard businesses need to see that this is a cool project to get on board with in terms of fundraising and showing that they, too, are a part of the solution to a big problem for 1 in 110 children.”

She said families affected by ASD need to know there is a place being built that includes them. The project is already changing the way Seattle Public Schools thinks about playground design and is getting a lot of interest from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and King County, Lofstrom said.

The new Salmon Bay playground has received funding from both the Department of Neighborhoods and the county and is Groundswell NW’s October Park of the Month.

“Families with ASD need play spaces that bring out the best in their kids and ones which help to turn strangers into friends as neighbors come to play together,” states a press release from the nonprofit.

Let’s Play Salmon Bay takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 22 at Salmon Bay School. Volunteers are needed, and attendees are welcome to bring donations for the Ballard Food Bank.