At first look, the playground at the Children's Guild-Transformation Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, looks like any other. It has swings, slides, and places for children to climb and crawl.
乍一看，马里兰州巴尔的摩儿童协会转型学院的游乐场与其他游乐场没什么两样。里面有秋千、滑梯，还有供孩子们攀爬和爬行的地方。
But the playground is not just a place for fun. It is also a place where students can learn, grow and gain independence. Everything — from the kind of surface it sits on, to the color of its sitting areas, to the placement of the surrounding fence — is specifically designed for kids with autism.
但游乐场不仅仅是一个玩耍的地方。它也是学生学习、成长和获得独立的地方。从它所处的表面类型，到休息区的颜色，再到周围围栏的位置，一切都是专门为自闭症儿童设计的。
Mark Rapaport is the managing director of autism services at the Transformation Academy. He told VOA Learning English the school accepts students aged 5 to 21 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and are lower-functioning.
马克·拉帕波特 (Mark Rapaport) 是转型学院自闭症服务部的总经理。他告诉美国之音学习英语，学校招收 5 至 21 岁患有自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 且功能较低的学生。
“None of our kids will ever drive,” Rapaport said. “None of our kids will ever live fully independently ... None of our kids graduate high school.”
“我们的孩子都不会开车，”拉帕波特说。 “我们的孩子都不会完全独立生活......我们的孩子都没有高中毕业。”
Rapaport said the goal of Transformation Academy is to make the students as independent as possible in an effort to help them prepare for adult life. The school aims to provide help with developing communication and social skills, as well as practical abilities like cleaning or cooking.
拉帕波特说，转型学院的目标是让学生尽可能独立，帮助他们为成年生活做好准备。学校旨在帮助培养沟通和社交技能，以及清洁或烹饪等实践能力。
“And learning through play is a big deal,” Rapaport said. “The classroom is great. But it's [things like play] that’s at the heart of the mission, which is building independence and getting them to be able to go into the adult world.”
“通过玩耍学习是一件大事，”拉帕波特说。 “教室很棒。但（比如游戏）才是我们使命的核心，即培养独立性并让他们能够进入成人世界。”
The playground, designed by Maryland company Sparks@Play, using structures manufactured by Landscape Structures, Inc., took months to develop, said Dan Hack. He works for Sparks@Play and helped lead the playground’s design. Hack said he and others spent weeks getting to know the students and understanding their needs before any building was started. The design process involved physical therapists , occupational therapists , and other specialists. The $500,000 project was funded with support from the state of Maryland and the nonprofit Orokawa Foundation.
Dan Hack 表示，该游乐场由马里兰州 Sparks@Play 公司设计，采用 Landscape Structures, Inc. 制造的结构，花了数月时间开发。他在 Sparks@Play 工作并帮助领导游乐场的设计。哈克说，在任何建筑动工之前，他和其他人花了数周时间来了解学生并了解他们的需求。设计过程涉及物理治疗师、职业治疗师和其他专家。这个耗资 50 万美元的项目得到了马里兰州和非营利组织 Orokawa 基金会的支持。
Parts of the playground that seem small are very important for children with autism and other disabilities. The surrounding fence extends into a wooded area to make it seem more open. And the ground under the play areas is made of soft, but solid materials to support students using wheelchairs or crutches .
操场上看似很小的部分对于患有自闭症和其他残疾的儿童来说非常重要。周围的栅栏延伸到树木繁茂的区域，使其看起来更加开放。游乐区下方的地面由柔软但坚固的材料制成，可以支撑使用轮椅或拐杖的学生。
Instead of just one slide, there are two sitting side-by-side. That way, parents or teachers with older, larger students can go down the slide together with the kids. A spinning structure called the We-Go-Round has a place for kids with wheelchairs so they can also have fun.
不是只有一张幻灯片，而是两张并排的幻灯片。这样，有年龄较大、体型较大的学生的家长或老师就可以和孩子们一起滑下滑梯。一个名为 We-Go-Round 的旋转结构为坐轮椅的孩子提供了一个地方，这样他们也可以玩得开心。
The playground’s designers say a number of sensory elements are also included to help the students. Children with autism often have Sensory Processing Disorder, which makes them very sensitive to certain sounds or textures .
游乐场的设计师表示，其中还包括一些感官元素来帮助学生。自闭症儿童通常患有感觉处理障碍，这使他们对某些声音或纹理非常敏感。
The benches on the outside of the playground look simple from far away, but are “one of our most inclusive sensory” elements, Hack said. They have many different colors that bring about feelings of calm and curiosity. They are also made with smooth material that can be felt and moved. The academy's Rapaport said if a child starts to feel uneasy, they can sit down and feel the bench, which can help them relax .
哈克说，操场外面的长凳从远处看很简单，但它们是“我们最具包容性的感官”元素之一。它们有许多不同的颜色，带来平静和好奇的感觉。它们也由可以触摸和移动的光滑材料制成。该学院的拉帕波特说，如果孩子开始感到不安，他们可以坐下来感受长凳，这可以帮助他们放松。
There are also musical bells and large xylophones that produce calming sounds. An enclosed structure provides a place of peace and quiet if a student needs a break from play.
还有音乐铃和大型木琴，可以发出平静的声音。如果学生需要在玩耍中休息一下，封闭式结构可以提供一个安静的场所。
One of the most important designs, says Rapaport, is a tower that can spray water on multiple children. This can be an important way for older children with autism to get over their fears of water, which for them can be overstimulating.
拉帕波特说，最重要的设计之一是一座可以向多个儿童喷水的塔。对于年龄较大的自闭症儿童来说，这可能是克服对水的恐惧的重要方法，因为水对他们来说可能是过度刺激的。
“Imagine you have a child that won't take a shower,” Rapaport said. “Now we can have kids go outside and they're standing under a sprayer and they're loving it. Why? Because they're watching other kids do it.”
“想象一下你有一个不会洗澡的孩子，”拉帕波特说。 “现在我们可以让孩子们到外面去，他们站在喷雾器下，他们会喜欢它。为什么？因为他们正在看着其他孩子这样做。”
Like the shower, much of the equipment is designed to persuade students to interact with each other, even though they might usually like playing alone. A swing set is designed to permit two kids to swing at the same time, for example.
与淋浴一样，许多设备的设计目的都是为了说服学生彼此互动，即使他们通常喜欢独自玩耍。例如，秋千套装的设计目的是让两个孩子同时荡秋千。
Celia Galion’s daughter Deborah is a 14-year-old who attends Transformation Academy. Deborah has a condition called tuberous sclerosis, which causes seizures, and which brought on her autism at a young age.
西莉亚·加利恩 (Celia Galion) 的女儿黛博拉 (Deborah) 14 岁，就读于转型学院 (Transformation Academy)。黛博拉患有一种称为结节性硬化症的疾病，这种疾病会导致癫痫发作，并导致她在年轻时患上自闭症。
“Deborah is a very sweet child,” Galion said. “She likes playing. She loves hugs. She's very affectionate and she likes to be loud. And so being outside is great.”
“黛博拉是一个非常可爱的孩子，”加利昂说。 “她喜欢玩耍。她喜欢拥抱。她非常深情，而且喜欢大声说话。所以呆在外面很棒。”
Galion said it has been four or five years since she has taken her daughter to a playground. She had resisted taking Deborah because other kids could be mean and she felt like many playgrounds were not safe.
加利恩说，她已经有四五年没有带女儿去游乐场了。她拒绝带黛博拉去，因为其他孩子可能很刻薄，而且她觉得很多游乐场都不安全。
But Galion said the new playground at Transformation Academy permits “children to feel like they have a little bit of freedom.” They can play “without having to necessarily have somebody standing right over them to make sure that they’re safe…it’s really, really great for them.”
但加利恩表示，转型学院的新游乐场让“孩子们感觉自己拥有一点自由”。他们可以玩耍“而不必有人站在他们旁边以确保他们的安全……这对他们来说真的非常好。”
Rapaport said the school plans to open up the playground for everyone in the autism community, even if they do not attend Transformation Academy.
拉帕波特说，学校计划为自闭症社区的每个人开放操场，即使他们没有就读转型学院。
Sparks@Play’s Hack said he thinks the playground can help autistic children of all ages develop their independence as they move into adulthood.
Sparks@Play 的 Hack 表示，他认为游乐场可以帮助所有年龄段的自闭症儿童在成年后培养独立性。
“Being able to learn how to collaborate and work with other people and use your imagination and try things that you wouldn't have tried otherwise … shapes you into a much more confident and well-abled adult,” Hack said.
哈克说：“能够学习如何与其他人合作和工作，发挥你的想象力，尝试一些你原本不会尝试的事情……让你成为一个更加自信、更有能力的成年人。”