Advocating for children with physical and intellectual disabilities :a multifaceted approach

Velez, Alexander

Advocating for children with physical and intellectual disabilities :a multifaceted approach

2024

Old Westbury, N.Y. : New York Institute of Technology, [2025]

Children with disabilities—Rehabilitation
Children with mental disabilities—Rehabilitation

English

All children have the right to participate in age-appropriate play and recreation within their community, regardless of ability, free of physical barriers, where they can physically and socially participate with their peers, as ratified by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children (Grover, 2005). Children with disabilities face occupational injustice and deprivation due to inaccessible environments, in particular playgrounds, as it affects their occupational participation in play and their development (Gately, 2023). The goal of this project is to explore different ways of advocating for more accessible public spaces, in particular playgrounds, exploring accessible playgrounds on Long Island, and dispersing this found information to the targeted population. The methods for achieving this goal are researching different accessibility evaluation tools and consulting with different expert professionals, such as architects, as well as working with the targeted population. Through this research, a checklist will be compiled that can be used to evaluate the accessibility of playgrounds in Long Island, NY. The findings will be published on Destination Accessible, a website whose purpose is to give information about the experience of accessibility of public spaces in New York. The findings will inform the targeted population and their caregivers about the accessibility features available on the five identified playgrounds. Feedback from the professionals and the information being published will be used as determinant for the success of this project. The outcomes of this project will be to raise awareness of accessible playgrounds and increase participation in play in these spaces for children with physical and intellectual disabilities, and discover effective methods of advocacy for more accessible playgrounds and public spaces.

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Capstone (Doctor of Occupational Therapy)--New York Institute of Technology, 2025

School of Health Professions

Department of Occupational Therapy

Doctor of Occupational Therapy OTD