San Jose Mercury News - 2007

Parents Helping Parents (PHP) Integrated Playgroup called Play For All has been in existence for several years with monthly meetings at PHP on the first Saturday morning of the month at 10:00 am. The playgroup is for children five years old and younger. Each playgroup has had a different guest teacher, including a wonderful music teacher, talented local crafters, and educators from many backgrounds.

The playgroup fits in with PHP philosophy of helping children meet their full potential though information and the concept of appreciation and acceptance of differences as enrichments to our world. Many little miracles have occurred at the playgroup, some obvious like the little boy with Down Syndrome who stood up for the first time ever and giggled to the music he enjoyed so much, to other subtle miracles of comments from the children about "my new friends" and helping hands of four year olds passing toys to the peer with spina bifida.

Families with children usually fall into three categories. Those in which the children have no particular special needs, those in which one or more of the children have special needs with regular siblings and those families which only have special needs children.

The Integrated playgroup offers something unique to each of these families.
Families with typically developing children often live in a world in which they are unaware of differences in their peers, they have never seen a child in a wheelchair and certainly never talked, touched or played with that child, for these children the playgroup introduces differences as the norm at an age before discrimination has taken hold. It also teaches that differences in appearances and behaviors are not to be feared, which can later manifest as cruelty and bullying.

Maybe the best thing of all is for children to realize that we are more alike that we are different and we all thrive on love and a little bit of help from our friends.
For families who have both special needs children and regular children the playgroup offers a true family outing. There are few children's activities that include all abilities and the mom (and sometimes dad) plays taxi service between the regular programs for the regular kids and the specialized programs and therapies for the special needs children - in each case one part of the family is excluded and must wait "patiently" for the other.

The playgroup offers a chance for everyone to have fun and for the caregiver to relax and know that there is something for everyone including a cup of coffee and a chat for mom or dad. It is also nice for siblings of special needs children to see that there are other families like them.

For the families who has only special needs children the playgroup offers an opportunity to be normal. Thankfully the state provides many wonderful programs to help these children with the extra help and services they need. However, they lack the contact with neighborhood friends and who better to have as a role model than the kid next door. The segregation also impacts the parents, being a mom to any kid under six is hard but this can be compounded by isolation and labeling when the child has special needs.

So the playgroup offers these families a place to meet new friends and see how their child's contribution is valued and that regular families choose to be around them for the enrichment they provide.
The playgroup is a free program and as a result families of all financial means can attend.

The playgroup is run entirely by volunteers and the mailings, location and outreach are provided by PHP which is a non profit agency. There is a need in the community for the program to expand and this will require volunteers including those with teaching skills, others with organizational skills and others who just love to come and help the children with their amazing projects of arts, crafts, music and play.

This program could not happen without PHP and donations are needed to secure the future of this and other PHP programs which help all children meet their full potential though strong families and professionals.