From
The Baltimore Sun. In the picture, Kaileigh Tricarick dashes under a parachute in the grassy area of the therapeutic garden at the new Outpatient Center of the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore.
The lush lawn, vibrant fuchsia roses and gentle sound of a cascading fountain create an oasis on an otherwise dingy East Baltimore corner.
It's a brilliant spring day, and the grass is blanketed with giggling children. In one corner, cheers erupt from a group who set up bowling pins and a ball. Nearby, a toddler in a walker navigates a curved walkway, mischievously dipping her hands into a fountain's cool waters.
They're not just kids at play. They're patients taking advantage of the new therapy garden at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, where children and young adults with developmental disabilities and traumatic injuries receive physical and occupational therapy integrated in nature.
The garden, which opened May 20, sits at the entrance to the institute's gleaming glass-and-steel outpatient center at 801 N. Broadway and is the centerpiece of therapists' vision to incorporate healing into every inch of the new facility. The $35 million Harry and Jeanette Weinberg building houses the bulk of the institute's outpatient treatment services, and the floor-to-ceiling window of the six-story 115,000-square-foot building overlooks what's been dubbed the "healing garden."
The garden was designed with therapeutic purposes in mind, from the gravel-and-mulch labyrinth, the interrupted stone paths and wide center lawn where children can run, roll, sit and play. There are three separate "therapy rooms" - vividly landscaped sections, each with a different mobility challenge. Gravel walkways help children in wheelchairs learn to maneuver on difficult terrain. Tight staircases without railings and narrow ramps simulate real-world challenges. And a network of water fountains beckons children with sensory problems who might otherwise flinch when exploring new textures.
But the garden doesn't look like a giant obstacle course. Kennedy Krieger's therapists said they worked with architects for years to incorporate challenges subtly. You wouldn't know it was designed by a therapist, Karen Good, Kennedy Krieger's manager of training and clinical education, who gained ideas for the garden by visiting similar ones in children's hospitals in other states.
"A lot of times what will happen in therapy gardens is there's a ramp to nowhere, a set of stairs, some gravel and some mulch to wheel over and otherwise it looks sterile and artificial," she said. "I wanted to integrate these textures into the garden."
Good and other therapists began working with architects in 2005 on the garden's design. The $1 million project was funded by philanthropists Fred and Farideh Mirmiran.
The garden isn't only a space for treatment. Designers wanted to give stressed-out parents a shady bench where they can relax or meditate, and offer children facing hardships an appealing - and safe - open-air space to let loose. The goal was to design an inviting, restorative space that inspires. Inscribed into the stone pavement are words of encouragement: Hope. Inspire. Achieve. Believe.
"Coming here is stressful and sometimes families are getting not such good news," said Lana Warren, the institute's senior vice president of clinical programs. "The ability to go outside and have a break in a very pleasant environment is helpful."
Surrounded by squealing children half his size, Mcrae Hott, 19, seated in a wheelchair, plays four-square with three other therapists.
He admits he feels too old to play. But after days of four-hour rehab sessions indoors, he's happy just to be outside. The ball-slapping game was intended to help him gain strength in his upper torso and back after he was paralyzed from the chest down last year in an ATV accident near his home in King William, Va.
"This is great," he said. "I love it."
His therapists plan to use the garden to help Hott learn to navigate his wheelchair up a few stairs and around steep curves.
Before the garden, Kristin Cameron, an occupational therapist, would improvise, using benches and cushions to create a makeshift obstacle course in an underground tunnel that connects Kennedy Krieger to part of the Johns Hopkins medical campus.
"We worked with what we had," she said. "This is a safe place to work on things. This is more of a real-life experience."
While therapists are encouraged to work in the garden, they aren't required to, or given rules to follow. Rather, they are encouraged to use the space as they choose and design their own challenges.
"I don't see this as being prescribed - it's very organic," said Good. "Therapists are natural explorers; they are accustomed to using their environment. I think a therapist will look at this and know exactly what to do with it."
The possibilities go beyond physical challenges. Speech therapist Mary Chestnut spent the morning helping 3-year-old Cocobella Phipps pronounce "s" and "ing" sounds. Cocobella, who has cerebral palsy and visits several doctors and therapists at Kennedy Krieger, maneuvered her walker to the fountain and splashed around while sounding out new words.
"You can work on language everywhere," said Chestnut. "She loved it. And it's easy to work in a place she could love."
Cocobella's mother, Sherri Phipps, of Annapolis, said she imagines her daughter will use the garden often.
"It's clear that every part of this place has a certain purpose," she said. "I think it's going to be very helpful to her."
From The Baltimore Sun. In the picture, Kaileigh Tricarick dashes under a parachute in the grassy area of the therapeutic garden at the new Outpatient Center of the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore.
