HUNTSVILLE. Ala. (WHNT) – The Hope Autism clinic in Huntsville celebrated the completion of a new playground geared toward allowing students on the autism spectrum to have a more typical recess experience as well as work on fine motor skills.  

The playground is funded through stakeholders of the specialized facility. 

The clinic provides special education and therapeutic interventions for children between the ages of two and eight. The new playground equipment will aid in nurturing students’ socialization while fostering emotional growth through play and collaboration. 

“We actually provide our therapy through play and what that means is the skills and the targets that our clinicians and technicians are working on we try to incorporate them into a fun learning opportunity,” Autism Clinic at New Hope Executive Director Erica Duijzer said. “The child doesn’t almost even realize that they are participating in a fun way of learning and that’s what makes it’s fun. It’s engaging and we’re able to target many different skills through play and of course, it’s such an important component of development itself.” 

The nonprofit special education school serves students in Madison County and are often in need of special needs clinicians and technicians. You can find more information here.