Sierra Thompson and her son Noah setting out on an accessible adventure around Westwood Lake. (Spencer Sterritt/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Spencer Sterritt

accessibility

Outdoor Play Day brings smiles, laughter at Westwood Lake

Aug 10, 2021 | 9:13 AM

NANAIMO — A trip along the trails of Westwood Lake was life changing for a young Nanaimo boy with mobility issues.

Noah Thompson traded his walker for a carrier and was taken on a guided tour of the trails with his family on Monday, Aug. 9 as part of Outdoor Play Day.

The annual event is organized by the Nanaimo Child Development Centre and many partners to provide outdoor activities for those who would otherwise go without.

“It’s pretty special for me,” Thompson told NanaimoNewsNOW before setting out with his family and staff wheeling him along the trail.

Thompson’s mother Sierra said learned about the options for accessible travel outdoors could be “life changing” for her son.

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“It’s really hard as the parent of a kid with special needs to research and hook up with programs and we don’t have a lot of opportunity to do that. There really isn’t trails we can regularly access and we wouldn’t know how to contact these kind of vendors, so this event is kind of life changing for us.”

Thompson said they appreciate the rising awareness and acknowledgement of accessibility challenges in urban development.

“You see new buildings with accessible entrances and bathrooms, but parks and recreation really hasn’t been one of those things until recently. I’m excited for the parents who are going to be coming up with kids in the next generation. It’s going to be so much easier for them.”

Melanie Rioux, a physiotherapist for kids and original organizer of the event in 2019, said accessible options are not always well publicized for those who need them most.

“If we’re looking for an activity, we can look up the Parks and Rec guide, we can Google yoga in Nanaimo. But if you look up accessible or inclusive activities, it’s super hard to find information. Whenever I’d look something up I’d find an old Yahoo email, or a phone number which is off service.”

Much of the work at Adapt Island is creating a database of accessible programs and places, with photos and key details so people can determine if it’s accessible for them, since the term inclusive and accessible is different for each person.

Rioux said momentum is generating to provide more accessible options. In 2019 nearly every vendor at the event came from outside Nanaimo, but in 2021 nearly all were local.

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spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @SpencerSterritt