WESTBROOK – For most children, a playground with swings, monkey bars and a slide is pretty easy – and a lot of fun – to navigate.

But for a child with autism, it’s not so simple. Most playgrounds are not designed with their needs in mind.

Now, thanks to a new project at Spring Harbor Hospital, located at 123 Andover Road in Westbrook, young patients with autism and related disorders have a place they can go that is both therapeutic and fun. The hospital will formally open the playground to its patients on Friday at 10 a.m. with a dedication ceremony.

“This gives us a dedicated space for these kids to play,” said Dr. Matthew Siegel, medical director of the hospital’s developmental disorders program.

The hospital, which offers psychiatric care for both children and adults, is home to one of only 10 such developmental disorders programs in the country dedicated to children with autism and related disorders.

Autism affects a child’s ability to develop certain social interactive and communication skills. Doctors still do not know exactly what causes it, but certain programs, such as the one at Spring Harbor, are designed to help children with the disorder interact with the world.

Just 15 years ago, Siegel said, only 1 in every 10,000 kids were diagnosed as autistic, but today, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show 1 in 88 kids show signs of the disorder. Siegel said there are a number of reasons why the numbers have changed so dramatically.

“Clearly, we’ve gotten better at identifying kids with autism, and the definition of autism has expanded,” he said.

Kids with the disorder, Siegel said, react differently from other children to loud noises, movement and certain types of physical contact.

“Children with autism have different needs for sensory input than other kids,” he said.

So the playground at the hospital is designed to accommodate, with equipment that doesn’t let kids move too fast or make too much noise. It’s also lower to the ground, Siegel said, which makes it easier to use for children with severe cases or those with limited motor skills.

“Just climbing up is more difficult,” he said.

The playground cost nearly $100,000 to build, Siegel said, but a large amount of the funds came from parents of autistic patients at the hospital.

Wendi O’Donovan of Falmouth is one of those parents. Her son Ryan, now 16, has been a patient at the hospital several times in the past, and still sees Siegel for therapy. When she learned of the project, she immediately wanted to help, given how much the hospital’s program has helped Ryan over the years.

“I don’t know what we would have done without it,” she said.

O’Donovan said parents like her know that autistic children often withdraw into themselves, and it takes a lot to get them to notice the world around them. Subtle differences in the playground, like a springy cork floor, rollers on the slide and seats that rotate, are all things that are designed to get the children’s attention.

“That way, they come into our world,” she said.

But the playground is still a playground, and children with milder forms of the disorder will want to use it, too, O’Donovan said.

“Everybody’s going to want to be on it,” she said. “It’s really cool.”

O’Donovan said this is a small step in addressing the need for awareness and funding for people with autism. She said she hopes to someday see more programs for adults with the disorder, along with more awareness from the general public for autism.

“As a society, we’ve got to address that, because it’s not going away,” she said.

This playground at Spring Harbor Hospital in Westbrook, to be dedicated Friday, accommodates the needs of children with autism and related disorders.