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Designing Inclusive Playgrounds And Workplaces For Neurodivergent Communities (Episode 369) · Voices for Voices®

• 0:02
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Hey everyone, it's Justin here, Voices for Voices.
• 0:05
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Thank you so much for joining us.
• 0:07
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Whether you're near, whether you're far, uh, whether you're watching, whether you're listening, whether this is your first episode, or if you've been with us from the beginning, we are grateful for your time uh to spend with us.
• 0:21
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And but we are uh just really uh really grateful for this whole year uh in all of you and want to uh say God bless you uh wherever you are in the United States or across the world.
• 0:39
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Thank you for joining us.
• 0:40
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: This episode we're gonna be talking about a little bit about uh neurodivergency, uh inclusive workspaces and inclusive play.
• 0:56
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Um I'm gonna start off by talking about inclusive play.
• 1:02
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: When we think of a uh when we think of a playground, right?
• 1:11
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We think of mulch, we think of uh, you know, uh monkey bars, uh slides, swings, uh some have zip line, uh just a lot of different a lot of different ways to uh to play.
• 1:39
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And for the individuals who aren't neurodivergent, and we'll we'll get in and talk about what what that what that really means, not the Wikipedia definition, just what that what that means.
• 1:59
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And so what that means is there are individuals like you and I and others who we play a little bit different.
• 2:14
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We need I use the word accommodation, but not using it lightly, I'm not using it as a crutch.
• 2:23
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: I'm using it as as what it what it really is, and to be neurodivergent, that just means we're a little bit uh we're all human, uh, but there are are ways and and and things that the way we play need a little bit of change in the historical way of play, as I mentioned with the mulch and the the swings.
• 2:56
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: It all in the past has come down to the assumption that we're all able to walk, we're all able to maneuver through mulch, right?
• 3:19
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Uh that we're able to uh not get stuck when we're walking through mulch.
• 3:27
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: So if we arrive at the playground and we get out of our vehicle, how are we able to get on not how where's the swing located and what's around it?
• 3:45
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And if there's mulch around it, someone who is um wheelchair bound, it's really hard to if not well, it's really really hard.
• 4:06
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: I want to say it's impossible, but it's really hard.
• 4:10
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: If you're wheelchair bound, and you have let's say 50 feet, 20 feet, 100 feet, whatever that amount is, to get to that swing, and that's the one thing that you and I want want to do is we you know envision ourselves going to the park and riding the swing.
• 4:37
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Well, if there's mulch there, that becomes a little bit tougher to even make it there because it's not a you know a smooth, flat surface that wheelchairs are able to maneuver through easily.
• 4:57
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Now there's those of us who we don't think twice.
• 5:03
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We arrive in our vehicle and we walk over through the mulch onto the swing, and then we swing, or we go up the steps of this uh that lead us to the slide or slides, and we go down the slide, and we have no no uh no issue with that, no problem, no challenge with that.
• 5:35
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And so when we talk about neurodivergent play areas, we're talking about play areas for all, not just for some.
• 5:46
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Now it's become now more evident and more needed than ever.
• 6:04
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We talk about inclusivity, bringing everybody together, not apart, and part of bringing everybody together is giving each of us an opportunity to play in the same type of way.
• 6:24
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: So if you're not wheelchair bound, or if you are wheelchairbound, we all can play in the same space, and so there's a lot of a lot of great work being done here in the state of Ohio.
• 6:43
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: There are a couple of well, I'll say there's at least one inclusive playground that uh we we know of.
• 6:53
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And we're not going to call out specifically, uh, because we want we want all spaces, all areas, all playgrounds to uh be neurodivergent and have that on the minds when planning committees and council members and uh if that issue comes up on a ballot to vote on, that we we understand that not everybody is like myself, and have two two legs, two functional legs that I'm able to walk through mulch.
• 7:45
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Uh others aren't.
• 7:50
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And so that can that be can become a big uh a big big topic because right, we have friends all shapes, sizes, we all we're all a little bit different.
• 8:08
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And if we're hanging out and we say to anybody in our in our in our uh our class or any of our friends, hey, do you want to go to the want to go to the playground and play?
• 8:27
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Well, to all the all the people who don't have you know those challenges of the wheelchair or others, or they're really more immobile than than uh than than others, that not only is mulch an issue, but how about the swing itself?
• 9:02
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Does a swing keep everybody safe?
• 9:06
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And so these are topics and ideas that you know the year right now is 2025.
• 9:15
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We're gonna be in 2026 very shortly, and we should be able to have inclusive playgrounds for all.
• 9:28
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: There's different things we can mean.
• 10:41
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We could be neurodivergent, we could be neurodivergent in one way and not others, and so where I am neurodivergent, uh number one is the mental illnesses with major depression, general anxiety, ADHD, ADD, uh, and then the lower spectrum autism that is uh that I'm impacted more on that continuum on uh lights, on loud noises, sounds uh and so that's where that's where I land on the neurodivergent area.
• 11:41
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And I'm not just you know, I talk about lights, it's it's it's interesting because people say, Oh, well, you have to have light to you know see where you're going.
• 11:54
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And yes, that that's true.
• 11:56
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: But when you're in a an area where if you're able to see, and and again, I'm I'm lucky lucky to be able to see, and I have two functional legs and two functional arms and fingers, and I mouth, nose, ears.
• 12:21
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: I am blessed to be uh who I am and and what I what I have, you know, uh parts of the body and and things, others aren't.
• 12:45
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And so we have to think about that, and so getting back to the lights, it's not just the fact like, oh well, I need a light to see if I'm able to see, or my caregiver is able to see.
• 12:59
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: But for me, it's not just the fact that oh, lights are on and every light bothers me.
• 13:07
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: That's not not the case, it's hard to explain.
• 13:10
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: So I'm not gonna get into all the different aspects.
• 13:17
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: The one area that is, I think, overlooked when it re when it relates to lights is the temperature.
• 13:29
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: So right, there's warm, there's cold, there's just right, and so we try to dress ourselves.
• 13:43
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: So if it's chilly, we want to dress ourselves or have our caregivers dress us in long sleeves and coats and pants and shoes and socks as best as we can.
• 13:57
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And then the the opposite, if it's if it's warm, uh, depending on how warm it is and where we're at, uh say we're at a beach, then we're we're going to be at a beach when the weather is warmer, then we're gonna want to be again dressed appropriately, whether we're able to dress ourselves or we have our caregivers that help dress us.
• 14:27
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And so when we get talk about lights, think about the sun when it's summertime, it's warm outside, warmer than other parts of the year, depending on where you live.
• 14:46
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Um and so, right, the the sun, if we're able to feel that heat, lights inside can do the same thing.
• 15:02
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: There can be certain types of lights that not only are functional as a way for us to be able to see versus in the dark.
• 15:24
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: But there's also lights that are brighter and warmer than others, and I don't I don't know which ones are which.
• 15:34
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: All I know is from my experience, what I notice myself is there are certain lights, and again, I can't I can't explain which ones they are, uh, and we're not gonna badmouth uh light you know uh light bulb makers, manufacturers.
• 15:58
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Uh we we would hope that the trend, if it's not already there, would be leaning getting closer to where the lights are only there to kind of project light for us so we can see our caregivers can see, and not also a heat source.
• 16:30
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And when you're as sensitive to things as I am and others, trust me, we can tell when a light is not just a light, it's also I heard somebody say it's it's a heat source, and so that makes me very, very, very, very anxious.
• 16:54
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: My anxiety goes up.
• 16:56
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: I have a hard time spending a large amount of time in areas like that.
• 17:06
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: That's that's just me.
• 17:08
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: I'm not I'm not speaking for everybody, but that's what makes me neurodivergent, one of the ways that makes me neurodivergent.
• 17:21
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Talked about if somebody's wheelchair bound, if they're able to see, not see here, not here, taste, not taste, uh, feed themselves, not feed themselves, walk, and uh as opposed to not uh not not being uh having that chat or having that challenge.
• 17:42
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And so that's why I wanted to have this show, and we're gonna do a couple more shows about this.
• 17:51
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Uh this one is a uh I'd say an all-encompassing one, a big summary to kind of introduce us all to neurodivergent.
• 18:08
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And these aren't excuses.
• 18:11
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Uh, that that's one thing that does bother me.
• 18:15
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: These aren't excuses for us.
• 18:19
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: These are like we all are, we're human beings.
• 18:25
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We have areas where we're similar, we have areas where we may be a little bit different, and that's okay.
• 18:32
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We're human beings, we're meant to be different.
• 18:36
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: God made us in his image of what he wants us to be, and so we want to bring this up because it's not just in the outdoor space of playgrounds.
• 19:06
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: That's a big source, especially your children, right?
• 19:09
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: You're growing up, you want to, if you're able to, you want to get out and about and play, and you know, you want to be a kid, you you want to play, you know, play with your friends, you want to play safely.
• 19:24
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: You want to say, oh well, I can do this, but sorry, there's mulch here, so I know you got we're on you know you're wheelchair bound, so you gotta go all the way over to the opposite side, or uh to get to the point to be able to ride a swing.
• 19:46
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And when they when anybody gets on a swing, is it safe?
• 19:51
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Is it safe for everybody?
• 19:52
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Is it is it designed for everybody?
• 19:56
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And so those are things that they're coming more and more to the forefront, and we applaud the organizations, we applaud, applaud the cities, municipalities, states, uh provinces, countries that are and have made outdoor play inclusive for everybody who wants to play.
• 20:33
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And that's just wanting to be a kid.
• 20:38
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: That's all that is.
• 20:40
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: It's just wanting to be a kid.
• 20:43
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We're a kid, we want to play, we want to play, we don't want to have to think like, oh well, I can only do this, and or can somebody help me over to this area?
• 20:58
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We'll do it if we we we need to, however, if the play area is set up in such a way that no matter what a child or even a even adult wants to play, that right, maybe you want to swing next to your child.
• 21:27
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Especially especially if there are uh you know some of these challenges that the children are are faced with that whole comfortability that whole being being happy that our children are able to play, play safely, play easily, and that comes down to you know things like mulch and barriers, so that's that's a barrier of entry to the play spill the play space of many of our historical play play areas, playgrounds.
• 22:27
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And so it's important.
• 22:31
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Those of us that are blessed to again have functional feet, legs, arms, eyes, ears, uh toes, fingers, uh, arms, legs it can be less of a challenge than somebody, than others.
• 23:07
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Not gonna just group people.
• 23:09
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: So it it could be easier for for some, it can be tougher for others, and so with this episode, we talk about, you know, uh, as our show is built on the uh the huge pillar, the foundation of mental health, mental illness, even bringing the neurodivergency, um, inclusivity into that conversation as well.
• 23:40
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We haven't spent a lot of time specifically on the inclusive play, inclusive spaces, but we're going to.
• 23:51
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: This again, this is like that that summary that's getting us primed because there are uh many, many, many people, organizations, firms, like architecture firms that are being asked more and more for inclusive areas, inclusive space, and inclusive rooms, uh, office space not the movie office space, but office space, workspace.
• 24:40
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And so we're gonna get into that in in uh in future episode.
• 24:50
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: But I wanted to kind of kick this off by sharing that none of this is lost on us as an organization.
• 25:01
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: There's times where we're gonna be more focused on one area than the other.
• 25:08
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Uh doesn't mean that we've lost and we aren't taking these uh inclusive, neurodivergent topics uh as much as we have others.
• 25:33
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: But again, there's there's limited time in a day, uh limited episodes we can we can do and produce, and and so now is a now is uh time again that we're we're gonna kick this off and we're gonna have an episode or two, they're gonna be follow-ups to this because it is a hot topic.
• 26:04
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And even if it wasn't a hot topic, there's things that affect me and affect people I know and organizations that have that are inclusive.
• 26:22
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And some of those some a lot of individuals need caregivers, need need help traveling from this space to the next space to the next space.
• 26:45
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And anything about okay, transportation wheelchair bound may need a wheelchair lift vehicle.
• 27:00
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And so my I I would I would think that there would be now versus twenty years ago, there would be a higher demand in vehicles to be able to transport humans, people like you and I, not only to get onto the vehicle, but once you're inside the vehicle, to be safe, that the wheelchair right, that we're able to keep that uh you know locked in position, can can can be uh safely on board for for the ride, wherever that that is is to.
• 27:55
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: So all across the spectrum, uh we're gonna be we're gonna be talking about these these topics.
• 28:03
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And we know they're important to you as well.
• 28:06
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: So reach out.
• 28:10
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Let us let us know what you you'd like like to see here on future episodes.
• 28:17
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: If you'd like to be a guest, let us know.
• 28:20
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Again, we're we're just about to a hundred countries.
• 28:27
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: I've been saying 80 countries, 90 countries, we're just about to a hundred countries and provinces and territories that our show, the voices for voices TV show and podcasts is reaching.
• 28:43
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And so we want to thank each and every one of you, no matter how you're watching, how you're listening, where you're listening, where you're watching from.
• 28:52
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We're all in this together.
• 28:56
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We have this big goal of helping three billion people at least over the course of my lifetime and beyond.
• 29:04
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And you'll you just heard me say, at least.
• 29:08
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Uh I say that because our understanding, our our belief is we're we're on our way to three billion people, helping three billion people.
• 29:21
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And so when we say at least, we're not stopping that three billion.
• 29:27
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We're not gonna say, Oh, we we reached that goal, so we're done.
• 29:33
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: No.
• 29:34
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: They say the show must go on.
• 29:39
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Voices for voices is gonna go on, and we're gonna go and go and go and go, and we're gonna talk and we're gonna reach and we're gonna uh help or help people here in the United States, here locally.
• 29:59
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: In in our state, across the country, across the world.
• 30:04
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: It makes no difference where where you're at and how you watch and how you listen.
• 30:11
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We're just so happy and glad to have you with us.
• 30:16
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: So until next time, it's Justin here with Voices for Voices.
• 30:21
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And we uh we want to say, let's celebrate all of our voices, no matter how uh no matter how in what way that may be.
• 30:33
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: And until next time, please be a voice for you or somebody in need.
• 30:41
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: Bye bye.
• 30:42
  Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: We'll see you next time.