Parks plays with better access for everyone

Parks plays with better access for everyone

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Limitless parks
Only so much can be done with equipment that wasn’t built with accessibility in mind, Colvard said.

The Playground Without Limits campaign, however, is seeking private funds to build three playgrounds designed with accessibility and inclusion in mind.

The playgrounds will be at Memorial, at the multi-service center on West Gray, and at Tidwell Park.

Colvard doesn’t have children, but the married research professional at the Baylor College of Medicine wants to in the future. And she wants to be able to play with them at the park.

These parks will include such amenities as a merry-go-round that a person can wheel up to, a rubber surface, panels with Braille and sign language, slides, ramps, transfer systems and porch swing gliders.

“These will be places where all kids can play together,” Colvard said.

Adapting recreation
Growing up, Dr. Ed Bradley played football, baseball, softball and basketball. He enjoyed the exercise and the competition.

Because of a hereditary condition called retinitis pigmentosa – in which abnormalities of the retinal pigment lead to progressive visual loss – Bradley has been legally blind since birth. Although he had some sight until about 20 years ago, he had trouble seeing the ball as it zipped toward him and occasionally past him.

By the 1970s, Bradley, a chiropractor, had stopped playing sports and exercising. Then, in 1979, he was introduced to beep baseball. His competitive fires and love of playing sports were stoked anew.

“A lot of blind folks aren’t active in any sport,” said Bradley, 63, who no longer plays but still coaches Houston’s lone team. “This sport teaches you self-esteem and that you can do something besides just sit on your butt feeling sorry for yourself.”

Elizabeth Acosta protects the ball from Jorge Torrres during a pickup wheelchair basketball game.

The city understands the benefits of people with disabilities playing sports.

The multi-service center is already home to Bradley’s beep baseball team and a wheelchair basketball team. There are plans for wheelchair tennis, wheelchair bowling, wheelchair football and sitting volleyball.

In March, the city hosted the national junior wheelchair basketball tournament. The city wants to host other wheelchair tournaments, Peggy Turner said.

“Sports creates a platform to get people’s attention and then to tell the rest of the story,” she said. “A lot of people come out to watch the tournament, and then they learn about people with disabilities.”

It’s not just about teaching the general public, Turner said. People with disabilities, which Colvard estimates to be about 500,000 Houstonians, also need to learn they can participate in sports just like anyone else, and that the city offers recreation tailored to them.

“There are so many people out there who can do things they don’t realize,” Turner said. “It’s neat to introduce somebody to this, to show them they can compete and move forward. Not just in their professions and careers, but in their free time as well.”

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