Persons with Disabilities

Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation believes all members of the community should have access to fun, healthy, positive recreation.

Therapeutic Recreation offers specialized and inclusive community-based programs for individuals with special needs. We seek to provide residents who have physical, economic, and/or behavioral challenges the opportunity to participate in competitive sporting events, specialized classes, creative activities, and special events.

Therapeutic Recreation exposes participants to new experiences to increase self-esteem and self-confidence and to promote community involvement and independence. That's what Therapeutic Recreation is all about!

Specialized Programs are open to everyone but are designed to meet the unique needs of individuals with physical, menta,l and/or emotional disabilities. Programs include sporting activities, adaptive aquatics, arts and crafts, and much more!

Inclusive Programs provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities upon request. Successful participation and accommodations will only be possible with the commitment of both the recreation staff and the participants.

For more information on Therapeutic Recreation, contact cstr@gwinnettcounty.com or 770.822.5414. For specific accomodations or questions, please contact Janice Rinaldo at janice.rinaldo@gwinnettcounty.com


Therapeutic Sports

Gwinnett Masters Special Olympics

Grayson Athletic Association

Peachtree Ridge Youth Athletic Association

Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation will provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities upon request. Successful participation and accommodations will only succeed with the commitment of both the recreation staff and the participants.

A reasonable accommodation is assistance provided to aid individuals with disabilities with their participation. Some minimum eligibility requirements may be required in order to participate. With a reasonable accommodation, an individual can meet the basic need or essential requirements for participation.

Participants are asked to notify the recreation department regarding any and all accommodations necessary for participation at least two weeks prior to the program start date. If accommodation requests are made less than two weeks, Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation will make every effort to meet the request. If we are unable to meet the request in time, Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation reserves the right to limit or deny registration for the requested session. However, the participant will be eligible to register for another program later in the session.

The same minimum requirements, which apply to a person without disabilities, also apply to a person with disabilities. These include:

• Meeting the age and registration requirements of the program
• Following the rules of conduct (with or without reasonable accommodations)
• Voluntary participation; recreation programs and activities are voluntary in nature, however participation will be encouraged and aided
• Level of ability, with or without reasonable accommodations, the participant will engage in scheduled activities for the majority of the program time
• Ability to tolerate and function, with assistance, in a larger social group (10 or more people)

The accommodations available to assist individuals with disabilities are as follows:

• Ongoing training provided for inclusion support staff
• An enhanced staff/participant ratio, when possible
• Common adaptive activity equipment and/or supplies
• Accessible transportation will be available upon request when transportation is provided as part of an activity or program
• Changing the rules of the games/activities, as long as it does not fundamentally alter the purpose of the game/activity
• Implementation of an individual behavior modification plan
• Moving the program/activity from a non-accessible location to an accessible location, while not fundamentally altering the activity
• Allowing service animals in programs

This is not an exhaustive list of the accommodations that Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation can provide. When an accommodation is requested we will work with you to enable program participation.