For more than 15 years, the Grommet Island playground in Virginia Beach has given Adiana Brittle and her family something every family deserves: a place where siblings of different abilities can play together. For Adiana’s brother Ahmahry, who uses a wheelchair, the inclusive playground’s accessible design created opportunities to experience play, the beach, and time with his family in ways that weren’t always possible elsewhere.
Finding an Inclusive Playground Where Everyone Could Play
Adiana Brittle is the oldest of four siblings. Her younger brother Ahmahry has been a central part of her life from the very beginning. Ahmahry has cerebral palsy, is nonverbal and nonmobile, and uses a wheelchair. Growing up in the Virginia Beach area with their mother, Ele, and siblings AJ and Alani, the family faced the constant challenge of finding spaces where all four children, with varying abilities, could simply play together.
That’s what made Grommet Island so meaningful.
Their family first learned about the park through a Virginia Beach City Public Schools flyer when it opened. At the time, Ahmahry was attending Pembroke Elementary School, which offered a dedicated program for students with special needs. From the moment they discovered it, Grommet Island became a haven for Ele and her four children.
Ahmahry is G-tube fed and highly sensitive to germs, which meant public spaces often felt risky. But the open-air environment at Grommet Island gave Ele greater peace of mind. “We always knew we had somewhere to go with four kids that is free and where we could play together,” Adiana shared.
Accessible Playground Design Made the Difference
The accessible design of Grommet Island made experiences possible for Ahmahry that the family struggled to find elsewhere. Wide ramp walkways made it easy to move his wheelchair throughout the playground — Adiana even learned how to pop a wheelie with him there. Beach-accessible wheelchairs available on-site also meant Ahmahry could experience more than the playground itself. He could get onto the sand and down to the water with his family.
That access changed everything.
As Ele shared, “I’m so thankful that there was a park where I could bring all of my kids, and it was designed to be inclusive of Ahmahry’s needs. Grommet Island gave him the chance to play with his siblings in a park just like other kids would in a way that no other park could.”
For their family, accessibility wasn’t simply a feature of the playground. It was what allowed Adiana, Ahmahry, AJ and Alani to experience the space together.
Creating Memories Through Inclusive Play
One of Adiana’s favorite pieces of inclusive playground equipment at Grommet Island is the Landscape Structures Sway Fun® Glider. Its accessible design allows children of different abilities to experience the movement of swaying together. Watching Ahmahry sway freely — full of joy, full of life — is a memory Adiana holds close.
Ele’s favorite memory is even more powerful: watching all four of her children — Adiana, Ahmahry, AJ and Alani — each with different abilities, play together in the same space at the same time. For a family that had once been told Ahmahry wouldn’t survive past his first year, moments like those carry a weight that is difficult to put into words.
More Than 15 Years of Memories at Grommet Island
Adiana and her family have been visiting Grommet Island for more than 15 years. Over that time, the playground has become part of some of their family’s most meaningful milestones. They even held Ahmahry’s eighth-grade graduation celebration there.
And while doctors once doubted whether he would make it to his first birthday, Ahmahry celebrated his 23rd birthday this past June — and still enjoys Dippin’ Dots at the beach. The park has become much more than a place to visit. It is a place that has grown alongside their family, holding some of their most treasured memories.
As Ele beautifully put it, “over a decade later, Ahmahry is able to share these experiences at Grommet Island with his niece and nephews as they grow up and begin to play.” For Adiana and her family, that continuity across generations is part of what makes the Grommet Island playground truly special.
Why Communities Invest in Inclusive Playgrounds
Stories like Adiana and Ahmahry’s don’t happen by accident. They happen when communities choose to invest in inclusive playgrounds and accessible public spaces designed to welcome people of different ages and abilities.
The City of Virginia Beach and Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation made a meaningful commitment to inclusive play at Grommet Island. For families like the Brittles, that investment created much more than a playground. It created a place for siblings to play together, families to make memories, and multiple generations to experience the same community space.
When communities invest in inclusive play, they invest in belonging — and in experiences that can stay with families for a lifetime.
At Sparks@Play, stories like Adiana and Ahmahry’s reinforce why thoughtful, inclusive playground design matters. Creating spaces where children and families can experience play together isn’t simply about playground equipment — it’s about creating opportunities for connection, independence, and belonging.