The recent Modesto Bee article titled, “Mom leads effort to build ‘inclusive playground’ in Modesto”, chronicles a Modesto resident’s determination to see a local inclusive park come to fruition. Rachel Loredo has spearheaded an effort to replace the worn and outdated playground in Beyer Community Park with a state-of-the-art, socially inclusive playground.

O’Dell Engineering is an avid supporter and promoter of inclusive play environments and has happily donated the firms land surveying services for the project as a catalyst to jumpstart the venture. The emphasis of socially inclusive playgrounds (a term coined by O’Dell Engineering) is not on helping children with disabilities to adjust to and accept the play environment, but rather designing the play environment to meet the needs and abilities of the child. Inclusive play environments are a fundamental statement about social values and children’s right to play.

We look forward to further work on this project and the ultimate outcome of a play environment in Modesto which encourages equality of play opportunity, full participation in play, and the independence of children.

To learn more about socially inclusive play design, click here.