Architectural barriers to the participation of disabled persons in community recreational activities

Abstract

In order to ascertain the architectural barriers which separate disabled persons from the use of community recreational facilities a questionnaire was mailed to 229 community recreational agencies in New York City. Replies were received from 70 per cent of the agencies, of which 139 (61 per cent) were usable. These agencies considered their facilities adequate for deaf persons in 79 per cent of the cases. However, only 40 per cent of the agencies considered their facilities adequate for persons in a wheelchair or cerebral palsied persons. The willingness of these agencies to accept different types of disabled persons into their recreational programs paralleled their percepts of the adequacy of their facilities. Severely disabled persons would have a difficult time functioning in the recreation programs of many of these agencies because of architectural barriers. It is suggested that these organizations need help from rehabilitation specialists in evaluating and modifying their physical structures so that disabled persons may have greater freedom to participate in their programs.