Four Rivers Receives Accreditation by National Inclusion Project

Four Rivers Environmental Education Center, in Channahon, is the first nature center in the country to receive accreditation as an inclusive facility from the National Inclusion Project for meeting the standards set by the organization for inclusive practices for individuals with disabilities.

 

Dr. Amanda Kloo, director of inclusive recreation at the National Inclusion Project, says, “Expert review of written documentation, program materials and onsite observation found that Four Rivers met the highest standards for including all community members. Four Rivers is not only the flagship inclusion-accredited environmental education center in your community, it is the flagship inclusion-accredited environmental education center in the United States!"

 

Inclusion items at Four Rivers feature buddy bags, a quiet space, an All-Persons Trail, paved trails, an exhibit guide, custom communication/talking boards and easy-viewing spotting scopes. The site also offers a custom-visual schedule creator; screen reader enabled PDFs; program/event accommodations; social story digital narratives for the facility staff and programs; live captioning during presentations; monthly Sensory Sunday programs; inclusive field trips for public, private, homeschool, therapeutic day school and adult day programs; and a pre-visit walkthrough video.