Inclusive playgrounds; Paralympian works to help all children

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. - A former Paralympian is on a mission to make all play inclusive for children.

Jill Moore was born with spina bifida and has always used a wheelchair.

"I was competitive, I had a big imagination," Moore said. "And growing up, playgrounds weren’t going to showcase that."

Moore is a former Paralympic track and field athlete, as well as an advocate for inclusion.

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"When I was growing up I was really at the mercy of someone doing it for me, or to me," Moore said. "People with disabilities have a lot to add."

As an inclusive play specialist for landscape structures, Moore educates communities across the country, showing parks and recreation planners how to create play spaces for people of all abilities.

"From somebody like me in a wheelchair, to someone on the autism spectrum, and everything in between," Moore said.

Moore said it’s playgrounds like Village Park in Menomonee Falls that are on the right track.

"We want kids with disabilities to have that equal opportunity to play with their peers," she said. "It’s spreading the importance, it’s spreading the intention. It’s spreading that one in four Americans has a disability."

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Her hope is for a domino effect.

"I think every time we do a project like this, one begins the next," Moore said.