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CHANUTE, Kan. (AP) — A southeast Kansas community has been working to raise money for a public playground that would accommodate children with disabilities.
"We know we're in a society where one in 68 children are diagnosed with autism, and we have a large amount of children in Chanute specifically who are on the spectrum," said Aimee Thompson, the mother of an autistic child. "Why couldn't kids who do not have special needs, why couldn't they play with kids who do have special needs?"
She told The Joplin Globe (http://j.mp/29wMC0s ) the city's parks don't accommodate children with special needs, and many Chanute families take their children to the nearby city of Iola, which has a sensory park.
Thompson has launched a fundraiser that seeks $40,000 by Aug. 1. The money will be used by Chanute's parks advisory board to match a $100,000 grant for playground equipment that would accommodate children with disabilities as well as those on the autism spectrum. Chanute is a city of fewer than 10,000 people about 120 miles south of Kansas City.
A total of $68,751 had been raised as of late last week. An additional grant of $32,000 was received last week from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for surfacing the playground, said Todd Newman, Chanute's parks director.
If the funding comes through, the new equipment would be installed at the 27.8-acre Katy Park. It would include wheelchair-accessible swing sets as well as different sections on the playground that can accommodate varying sensory needs, Thompson said.
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Information from: The Joplin (Mo.) Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com
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