adults with learning difficulties on small childrens' play area.

[Bethshine82]

Took DS to the play area on Friday, it is not a huge play area and has one of those signs saying it is designed for use by children 14 and under.
Whilst we were there a group of around eight adults with learning difficulties and their carers arrived. The adults proceeded to go onto the playground.
AIBU to think this isn't very fair? They were adults and they weren't really aware of their strength and size. The carers weren't supervising brilliantly and twice I saw one of the adults just shove the children out of the way. Also some of the adults were shouting and screaming which frightened some of the toddlers. Many of the children left. I'm not in any way suggesting that adults with learning difficulties shouldn't be able to go out and enjoy themselves or that they shouldn't be part of the community, I'm just not sure a small childrens' play area is the place for an adults' afternoon out.

I think that the playground should only be used by children, it isn't safe otherwise really. AIBU?

how do 'adults with 'learning difficulties' (isn't that an awful label) pose a risk to small children, if the small children were being adequately supervised?

14 yo are allowed to share this equipment. Adults are not a huge leap from there.

This OP should really AIBU to think that this group should have been adequately supervised, rather than whether they should have been there at all, surely?

fizzylaces - well said, I applaud you.

saintlyjimjams - we have that with the sn swing at the park too!

I don't see a single thing this group did wrong. Their carers on the other hand . It is utterly terrifying to me that as an 'adult' my DS may well at times be entrusted into the care of people like this.

People with special needs/disabilities/learning difficulties should be a common sight in everyday society. Seeing them playing in the park should be something people don't bat an eyelid at. Children should be growing up being taught tolerance and understanding of people who are a little different to them.

I have a child who makes noises, and runs around banging into things / people. He can't help it, it's part of his condition and all he needs is a little understanding and tolerance.

He may be able to live a fairly independent life as an adult, OR he may be living with support, still wanting a go on the swings and slides. The not knowing and the constant worrying is terrifying and some of the attitudes displayed on this thread are utterly depressing.

Agree that for this trip to be sanctioned, there will have been a risk assessment, so the risk of breaking equipment will have been covered, and guidance given as to what to discourage (eg swinging REALLY high). Afaik, the 1-14 restriction is, more often than not, to give police/wardens/whoever an excuse to kick out older teenagers using it as somewhere to sit and drink supermarket cider.

And if properly supervised, I think there is no reason why this group should not be able to use the equipment - providing that is what they want to do. Learning Disabled is an incredibly broad term, and some adults with LD really don't need or want this sort of activity, and others will keep their delight in it well into old age. But it does sound like they were having heaps of fun.

And tbh, I don't think there's a huge difference between saying that your child is going to be scared of the "weird" noses that people with learning disabilities make and saying that Cerrie should be sacked from C-Beebies because having one arm might frighten the children. They're usually only as frightened as we teach them to be. Sneaking up behind someone and screeching in their ear is another thing, but if you have a screecher on your hands you know about it and plan accordingly.*

However - sounds like a particularly cr@p set of carers. So no, YANBU to be concerned about kids sharing a play space with adults careering around dangerously with insufficient supervision. The risk assessment should have made it quite clear what level of supervision was needed, and I know with very high-supervision groups (ie 1 service user to 2 carers) they tend to split up and go in smaller numbers. The carers chose to ignore the rules because they would rather have a natter and turn a blind eye. The sad thing is that if someone does get hurt (and tbh quite likely to be an adult not a child: the flip side of being heavier is they hit the deck incredibly hard where a kid would just bounce and probably cry but be OK) then it will be no more trips to the swings for a group who possibly looks forward to it all week.

*Unless you have been severely pissed off by someone passing judgemental comments in the supermarket. In which case you might just wheel your screecher up behind them when they are rummaging in the veg aisle. And wait with some satisfaction to see how high they jump.

What really annoys me is the provision for adults with ld is so lacking where I live. In some ways at least a trip to the park beats feeding the ducks sat in a wheelchair everyday.

. But comparing a parent using the equipment to an adult with sn is misleading. The carers at the very least should be making sure the service user is, in the first instance safe. As a parent I know and weigh up the risk to myself and others using play equipment, adults with ld aren't always in a position to be able to do that.

Ultimately I would be more cross with the carers.

YABU and a bit of a stirrer to start this thread

HTH

I think, rather than ghetto-ising people with SN, we should maybe be 'acclimatising' NT children to living alongside them? Because if your small child is well supervised, and the carers are on the ball, then everyone's OK, surely...

That sounds slightly clinical, and perhaps offensive? Sorry if so. What I mean is that maybe the first time they are a bit taken aback by shouting, but it doesn't have to be just one time. And if you deal with things right, then they will perhaps be more accepting of differences than if you hustle them away and leave the others to it.

Great rant [fizzylaces]
YABU, OP.

There was a thread on here not so long ago about a woman taking a photograph of her granddaughter at a sporting event, despite their being signs asking for no flash photography, and triggering the OP of that thread to have an epileptic fit.

Most people agreed that it was unreasonable for the woman taking the photographs to ignore the sign and put someone else at risk.

If the play areas were signposted for the under 14's only and then again in a smaller area for toddlers only then the carers should have respected that. The OP says she wasn't objecting to them playing there but only to the pushing etc, that the carers witnessed but didn't try to resolve. But there are plenty of playgrounds that aren't age restricted and better planning on the part of the people who organised the outing could have made for a better day for all concerned.

I work with some people (adults) who have been the victims of hate crime who go round primary schools talking to the children about the experiences and how it has impacted on them. More of this is needed. (By hate crime I mean being verbally or physially abused on transport, in their homes, out and about in the community.)

I can pm folk if they are interested in details about this - I don't work for the organisation who has set this up, but have massive admiration for their work.

i think YABU

i feel it is a shame that they did not have better supervision and activities laid on for them i think that would have been more my concern than ds missing out on going on the swings or that he was in danger (why would he be if i am watching him) and i have often seen adults on teh swings and slides

i also do not think children soul be sheltered from those with sn in case they are frightened i find this attitude quite sickening in this day and age. children need to get used to the fact that some children and adults do have sn, that they are still people part of our society and to be treated with respect not to be feared or avoided the more interaction the better (with proper supervision for all)

my comment about the thread being done before was more of a hmm here we go again.
sadly there are people in this world who don't want to share it with anyone different from them and they pop up on mn with a story.
and they always end up saying they have worked with disabled people or something like that.........

Ok, sorry if this issue has offended anyone. I did not mean to be a 'stirrer.' I was genuinely interested as to whether or not IWBU to wonder if this was an issue (not really the right word but can't think of another) or not.

I would never ever suggest that adults with ld should be separated from the community or that their needs should come below anyone else's. It just seemed dangerous watching eight large adults career around a small play area without much supervision. Had it been eight adults without ld I would have felt the same. One of the adults was distressed at one point and it was this that worried some of the children.

Sorry if it came across as 'we must shield children from this,' that honestly genuinely was not what I meant.

Thanks 2shoes for that incorrect judgement.

I think it's ok if they're enjoying it BUT they should be properly supervised, with somebody within arms reach-ish, and not in a huge group at once, all together, aaand not on an age restricted playground.

glad it is incorrect.

I don't think it's about sheltering people, it's about health and safety. If there were other children in the play area with SN, then no problem. But I wouldn't be happy with a big bunch of adults, SN or no SN using the equipment when there's little kids on it. There may have been a risk assessment, or equally there may not have been, or if there was it may not have been a good one.

Should a 13 yo be using the equipment then? Because they are "allowed", and are also a lot bigger than a toddler.

My 10 yo DS goes unsupervised to the playground, and he uses the equipment.

I think people with LD are a common sight in most communities aren't they?

And along with that we all need tolerance and understanding.

It has to be acknowledged though that there are difficulties too - especially as everything in this area is so often swept under the carpet and not talked about - I think this means that people often have to feel their own way through it - which for sensible people is fine but just intimidates others and leads to distrust and dislike.

every park i have ever gone to, the play equpment has been made of metal.

surley it's not the age but the weight, because if you look at age who is to say a 14 years and 51 weeks is safer than a 15 year old on his/her birthday

have to ask are children under 14 silent when in a play area??
we live next to one and I can assure you the noise is very loud.
so tbh I think the noise of 8 "adults"(who might or might not be adults) would not have been any louder than a busy playground....

also please this was not a toddler/baby playground as the op says it was up to 14's

My DD is 5, she has SN and many issues. She likes soft play but can only cope in the baby section for under 3s, she'd be annihilated in the over. 3s.

She is constantly tutted at by other parents or told to leave there by the staff ( she doesn't understand). There is no magical special SN soft play here. Should she miss out?