We Are Grateful!

With the Help of a Generous Community, We Built Our Students a Water Spray Park!

Background: Most of our students attend school 12 months a year! Our 6 week summer program is not camp, but a continuation of our school year. It keeps our students on the autism spectrum from losing the skills they acquired during the 10-month program.

Before we built our Water Spray Park, for our students, there were fewer trips to the neighborhood pool or park with their families, because they were in school, but now they are enjoying the many benefits that come with having their own, self-contained Water Spray Park. “This is the best day of my life” is the rave review one of our students gave on the opening day of our Water Spray Park.

Many Benefits for Our Students

In addition to a safe refreshing place to cool off on a hot day, this wonderful water playground came with a host of therapeutic benefits:

• So many of our students experience the need to move about, as a result of “stress chemistry” responses in their nervous systems, their free play as they move through the various sprinklers, helps to calm and organize them.
• The rhythmic sound of the water spray blocks out other noises and relaxes our students the way the sound of surf at the beach can.
• The Water Spray Park was designed by an enthusiastic group of our staff from all disciplines. Their thoughtful planning created ample space for children to run around or stay put under a favorite shower without crowding in a safe environment ideal for those students who lack safety awareness.
• The fun setting of the Water Spray Park has encouraged more social interactions between children and increased some student’s communications in ways we could not have foreseen. For instance, one of our Orange Class students who has difficulty with spontaneous communication was on the Water Spray Park, and said, I love you, water!”
• Generous funding from our donors also provided large canopy umbrellas for places of shade for students that are “sun-sensitive.”
• For those students hypersensitive to touch, playing in the “still waters of the little pools” is a wonderful alternative for those not yet comfortable with the “sprinkling” sensations of the spray.
• Throughout the remainder of the school day, we suspect that this water play has helped make our students more ready to learn, and has reduced behavioral difficulties.

Thank You

On behalf of our students, their families, and all of us here at Spectrum Services, a big THANK YOU to all who donated, and supported our students Water Spray Park. We are ever grateful!