Are schools adapted to the needs of people with reduced mobility?
Surely, if we all remember what the schools we studied were like, we will remember stairs, narrow corridors, straight and low tables... It is true that schools have more and more spaces and materials adapted for students and teachers with mobility needs, like, elevators, specific bathrooms, ramps... But, still most ordinary schools and institutes have architectural barriers that prevent full freedom mobility of children with physical problems or movement difficulties, and the material of the classrooms of this schools are poor and disadapted.
Therefore, how do the facilities of an educational center have to be so that they are adapted to students in wheelchairs or with reduced mobility?
Before the installations, it should be noted that the families, the school, the specialists, etc. They have to be in contact so that the center adapts to the maximum to the needs of the student and above all so that the school gives the necessary support and normalizes their situation. The necessary resources include:
Signposting of routes suitable for people with reduced mobility (these would have to be suitable and inclusive, in case students with mobility problems have any other associated difficulties).
The main entrance door has to be wide, accessible and easy to open.
Emergency elevators, ramps with a normal slope and specific toilets (these are the resources available to most schools and institutes).
The paths to the playground have to be adapted and not slippery.
Support bars (at different levels) in all sections of stairs or ramps, to serve as restraints for students with reduced mobility, but who do not need wheelchairs.
The yard has to have entertainment and gaming options for people with mobility disabilities.
The classroom has to be accessible. The furniture (drawers, blackboards, materials ...) must be at an adapted height, suitable for children to access the materials from wheelchairs.
The library, the laboratory, the gym, the cafeteria, etc. must be in places of easy access and have facilities for students with mobility problems, as well as be wide enough so that the student can have sufficient autonomy in that specific classroom as well as in his own.
Buses with special accommodations are required for off-campus activities or excursion. The place visited during the excursion or activity must be free of architectural barriers and be suitable for all students.
Oriented more to teachers or parents of the students, near the main door of the school there must be adapted parking spaces.
In the following images you can see some of the adapted materials needed by students with reduced mobility:
In relation to schools in Catalunya I have been searching to see if they were properly adapted and free of architectural barriers, I have found information about schools in Barcelona. According to Ajuntament de Barcelona, there are 49 accessible and inclusive schools in this city.
Information and images taken from:
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