A mother’s mission to make parks inclusive for all

Kavitha Krishnamoorthy, mother of an autistic child, and founder of Kilikili, pledged to make playgrounds user-friendly for children with special needs

May 13, 2017 11:47 pm | Updated 11:47 pm IST - Bengaluru

Eleven years after Kavitha Krishnamoorthy, the mother of an autistic child, pledged to make parks more inclusive for differently-abled children, the trust she started is still going strong. After Coles Park, M.M. Krishna Rao Park, and Gayatri Devi Park, two more parks in the city are in the process of becoming inclusive public spaces. Kilikili, a trust run by mothers of differently-abled children, is working with Cooke Town Residents’ Association to develop an inclusive park in the neighbourhood. The trust is also working with the NGO Concerned for Working Children to build an inclusive play space in Lal Bahadur Shastri Nagar.

The parks are being developed based on a manual released by the trust last year to push civic bodies to make play spaces more inclusive.

“Eleven years ago, when I took my two-and-a-half-year-old son to a public park in the city, I realised that most equipment could not be accessed by my child, who was autistic and suffered from seizures,” said Ms. Krishnamoorthy. She noticed that the park offered nothing to a differently-abled child.

This got her thinking about creating inclusive public places.

Along with two mothers, she approached the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) with a plan to make parks more disabled-friendly. Modifications such as slides with raised edges, table height sand-pit for children on wheelchairs, and tyre tunnels and swings to help special children reach the developmental milestones were part of the design.

“Even before we approached the corporation, we took a few differently-abled children to the park to understand what they liked and disliked, and what they found difficult to use. With the help of an architect, we created an inclusive design and approached BBMP. K. Jairaj, who was then the commissioner, readily agreed to the idea,” said Ms. Krishnamoorthy. The result was Coles Park, a gift from a mother not just to her child but many like him, who for long, have been excluded from public play spaces. Now, Ms. Krishnamoorthy wants more residents’ associations and welfare groups to take up the ownership and replicate the model in their area.

“Only with the involvement of local groups can the project be sustained. We have been receiving a lot of enquiries of late which is very encouraging,” she said.

Kilikili is also expanding to other States.

“We are working with the Madurai and Chennai corporation,” Ms. Krishnamoorthy said.

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