Recently, my spouse linked me to a stubby little article about the Sesame Street theme park becoming autism-friendly. To which I said, "What? Is that even possible?" Amusement parks, as a rule, tend to be loud, full of children (also loud), and full of other extremely unpleasant sensory experiences. So having one now saying it's going to be autism-friendly seemed... absurd, frankly. Even for a company that's tried to make a point of including autism in the world, up to making a literal character on the show be autistic.
It's not that I didn't think their intentions were good. I just found the idea impossible to imagine. How do you make a theme park, with people everywhere, limited menus, near-mandatory social interaction, amusement park rides, and loud music/noise levels into anything that even slightly resembles an "autism friendly" environment? Never mind the lightbulbs, flash photography, and other families.
Their answer, apparently, is to turn their entire theme park into a certified autism center, following the standards laid out by The International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES). By the look of it, I don't think this means they'll be offering therapy classes along with their theme park rides, but it does sound like at least 80% of the stuff will have received training that teaches them how to handle kids with special needs. Which would make the interactions between staff, parents, and autistic kids a lot less painful for everyone involved. So that's the staff and characters handled.
The amusement park rides are a bit trickier... but they have several accommodations for those. First, and most interestingly to me, they have a .pdf guide explaining each of their attractions. Right down to rating the sensory level of each ride for each of the 5 classical senses, with descriptions as to why each ride received the rating. I found it somewhat notable that while the scale goes up to 10, the highest rating any ride received for any sense was a 5. But I suppose A) this is a park for small children, and B) they're probably trying not to include too intense of experiences anyway.
I would have liked to have seen proprioception (kinetic sense) included as a ranked sense criteria, as I think that was my major problem with roller coasters and such at more standard theme parks... but honestly, this amount of thought is a very good starting point.
In addition to the guide, there does seem to be a "jump the line" program for families with special needs, but it looks like you have to sign up ahead of time and get verified and such... which is probably their way of avoiding what happened to Disney World, with people pretending disabilities left and right in order to skip lines. There's a detailed guide available online for this program, as well as specific accommodations and rules regarding service animals, oxygen tanks, casts, and other specific accommodations. I could very much do without the blue and orange theme they have going for that guide, but I don't think it's technically causing me pain... maybe.
Not much can be done about the other families in the park, of course... but people with sound sensitivity do have some options. First, the park offers the use of noise-canceling headphones, free of charge. I've never tried the particular brand, called "Whispears," but anything is better than nothing. In addition to these, there are both "Quiet Rooms" with adjustable lighting and comfortable seats, and "Low Sensory Areas" where presumably shouting and loud music are prohibited.
Foodwise, it looks like Sesame Place has the standard "no picnic lunches" policy, but it does seem to include some wiggle-room for special diets, assuming you get into contact with them in advance. By the sound of it, the various eateries in the park itself will offer some options for special diets... so it probably won't just be "pizza, hot dogs, and pretzels." The restaurant options are listed online, and seem to include various Asian, Mexican, and standard US fare. I didn't see any mention of coconut, soy, or almond ice cream... but I guess even Ben & Jerry's is still working on their dairy-free ice cream, so maybe I'm expecting a bit too much there. At least for now.
Overall, they seem to have done a pretty good job trying to anticipate and accommodate the most common special needs of autistic children and their families. I am, at this point, much too old to enjoy Sesame Place, but it does seem very promising for families with kids in that age range. Check out the section on their website, which talks about their specific accommodations for autistic and special needs people. If you end up going, do let me know what the park is like!
It's not that I didn't think their intentions were good. I just found the idea impossible to imagine. How do you make a theme park, with people everywhere, limited menus, near-mandatory social interaction, amusement park rides, and loud music/noise levels into anything that even slightly resembles an "autism friendly" environment? Never mind the lightbulbs, flash photography, and other families.
Their answer, apparently, is to turn their entire theme park into a certified autism center, following the standards laid out by The International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES). By the look of it, I don't think this means they'll be offering therapy classes along with their theme park rides, but it does sound like at least 80% of the stuff will have received training that teaches them how to handle kids with special needs. Which would make the interactions between staff, parents, and autistic kids a lot less painful for everyone involved. So that's the staff and characters handled.
The amusement park rides are a bit trickier... but they have several accommodations for those. First, and most interestingly to me, they have a .pdf guide explaining each of their attractions. Right down to rating the sensory level of each ride for each of the 5 classical senses, with descriptions as to why each ride received the rating. I found it somewhat notable that while the scale goes up to 10, the highest rating any ride received for any sense was a 5. But I suppose A) this is a park for small children, and B) they're probably trying not to include too intense of experiences anyway.
I would have liked to have seen proprioception (kinetic sense) included as a ranked sense criteria, as I think that was my major problem with roller coasters and such at more standard theme parks... but honestly, this amount of thought is a very good starting point.
In addition to the guide, there does seem to be a "jump the line" program for families with special needs, but it looks like you have to sign up ahead of time and get verified and such... which is probably their way of avoiding what happened to Disney World, with people pretending disabilities left and right in order to skip lines. There's a detailed guide available online for this program, as well as specific accommodations and rules regarding service animals, oxygen tanks, casts, and other specific accommodations. I could very much do without the blue and orange theme they have going for that guide, but I don't think it's technically causing me pain... maybe.
Not much can be done about the other families in the park, of course... but people with sound sensitivity do have some options. First, the park offers the use of noise-canceling headphones, free of charge. I've never tried the particular brand, called "Whispears," but anything is better than nothing. In addition to these, there are both "Quiet Rooms" with adjustable lighting and comfortable seats, and "Low Sensory Areas" where presumably shouting and loud music are prohibited.
Foodwise, it looks like Sesame Place has the standard "no picnic lunches" policy, but it does seem to include some wiggle-room for special diets, assuming you get into contact with them in advance. By the sound of it, the various eateries in the park itself will offer some options for special diets... so it probably won't just be "pizza, hot dogs, and pretzels." The restaurant options are listed online, and seem to include various Asian, Mexican, and standard US fare. I didn't see any mention of coconut, soy, or almond ice cream... but I guess even Ben & Jerry's is still working on their dairy-free ice cream, so maybe I'm expecting a bit too much there. At least for now.
Overall, they seem to have done a pretty good job trying to anticipate and accommodate the most common special needs of autistic children and their families. I am, at this point, much too old to enjoy Sesame Place, but it does seem very promising for families with kids in that age range. Check out the section on their website, which talks about their specific accommodations for autistic and special needs people. If you end up going, do let me know what the park is like!
Note from two years in the future: I did actually make it to the park, review is here.
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