Sensory-therapeutic playground opens at Pinellas County school

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Recess is usually a highlight during the day for students, and a new sensory playground at Paul B. Stephens ESE Center helps meet the needs of students. 

The new playground at the center in Pinellas County allows all students to be independent while using touch, sound and movement. It’s Pinellas County Schools’ first sensory-therapeutic, wheelchair-accessible playground.

"I’m so happy I got this," Brandon Alvarez, a fifth grader at the school, said.

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The playground took two years to develop, and the school’s therapists helped design it to meet their students’ needs.

The sensory-therapeutic playground is the first of its kind at a Pinellas County school. 

"It's amazing watching our students be able to be as independent as possible and watch them communicate and move again with the amount of independence has been worth all of the wait," Mary-Kate Jones, a speech-language pathologist at the school, said. 

Therapists incorporate the playground into their students’ treatment plans. 

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"It means the world, because we see these tiny little gains, and sometimes, we see huge gains and they all matter," Jones said.

The playground has a board to help non-verbal students communicate. 

The playground includes adaptive bikes that give students the experience of riding a bike as well as sensory stations, cozy cocoons that spin and help students with balance, a playhouse, circles and stars on parts of the playground to help with sensory input and equipment that works on students’ mobility and communication, like the Communication Core Boards.

"They are essential," Katie Csaszar, Paul B. Stephens’ Principal, said. "Many of our students are non-verbal, and they don't communicate in a traditional way. So, to be able to have the communication boards outside in the same way that they're in the classroom lets the students generalize those skills and to be able to communicate in every setting in the school."

Students said the swings are also one of their favorite parts of the playground.

A special bike on the playground helps children be more independent. 

"I love our new playground, because I can do so many things by myself," Jacob Daysa, a second-grader, said. "I like the slide, the playhouse and the swing the best."

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School staff said their favorite thing about the new playground is the independence it gives their students.

Girl in wheelchair enjoy the new playground. 

"There is nothing better than seeing the joy for students to be able to access the playground the same way as their peers might regardless of whether they're in a wheelchair or not, or how they communicate, visually impaired or not, or whatever their needs are, to be able to see that is why we're all here," Csaszar said.

"Knowing that every student has the opportunity to engage on the playground and is able to experience it in their own way and just to see the joy on their faces, it really is the best part about it," Csaszar said.

The playground’s official ribbon cutting is Wednesday morning.