Deep apologies to Kurt Cobain and Nirvana for riffing on their song. I just saw the newest Muppet movie for the second time the other day and the scene with the barbershop quartet singing this song is sort of stuck in my head. It fits my subject for today's entry.
SENSORY INTEGRATION DISORDER AND MOVIES
Going to the movies or a musical theatre production are things that most of the world takes for granted. We love entertainment and it gives us an escape from our everyday reality. For those of us who are typically-developing people, it is just a thing we do without much thought. For someone who is sensitive to sounds or lights, a movie theatre is a scary place. It's dark and quite loud these days. Your brain is overwhelmed with processing all of this and your anxiety comes out as aggression, crying or simply shutting down.
Many people on the autism spectrum experience sensory integration problems. They are extra sensitive to light, sound and touch sensations. It's a complicated thing to explain and really hard for typically-developing people to understand. I know that I don't understand it and I live with it daily. Very simply, it has to do with how the brain is not wired to filter out extraneous stimuli the way a person without the problem can. Drew's sensory issue is sound. He does not like really loud or suddenly loud sounds. This was actually one of the first things we noticed about him before he was diagnosed with PDD-NOS. As a little boy, he hated the vacuum cleaner. Most babies and toddlers like the sound and it sort of relaxes them. Not Drew. He also never outgrew this discomfort like most kids outgrow things that bother them.
Back to the movie...Drew saw a couple of movies when he was little and never seemed to have a problem but when I took him to Ratatouille several years back, he wasn't interested in the movie and he mostly seemed like he was trying to get away from it. I theorized that he was just antsy but I eventually realized that he was, in fact, probably trying to get away from the loudness of the movie. When we finally knew what was going on with Drew, I was really sad about this simplest of entertainments. Going to the movies would be something that Drew wouldn't be able to enjoy. Maybe he'd learn to cope with the loudness someday when he was older because autistic kids do learn to cope by learning relaxation techniques or wearing earplugs (we've offered Drew earplugs and it's a no-go). Drew would see a commercial for a new movie out in a theatre and would say, "I can't wait until that comes out on DVD so I can see it."
ENTER AMC ENTERTAINMENT
Several years ago, a parent of an autistic child made a request to an AMC theatre in Maryland to lower the sound and the lights of a movie because her child was incredibly anxious due to the overstimulation. This request became a special program of "sensory-friendly films" that AMC runs once a month on a Saturday morning. They run a film that has been out for a week or two. Because of this program, Drew has seen Despicable Me, Megamind, The Muppets and a couple of others that I can't recall. The Harry Potter films have also been sensory-friendly films although Drew is not old enough for these yet. There are a couple of theatres in the Houston area that use this program. The ticket seller always tells us it's the "sensory-friendly" showing and asks if we are okay with that. They keep the lights on but low, the sound is also lower and if the people in the audience (not always autistic children but many times there have been special needs adults there too) want to talk, laugh, dance, they can. I have actually teared up when we go knowing that my son can enjoy a first-run movie within a week or two of his peers instead of having to wait for the DVD.
This is the link to AMC's website with a schedule of movies and there is a link to participating theatres.
AMC Theatres Sensory-Friendly Films
THEATRE IS MY LIFE!
Most of you know, I love to sing. Music is a huge part of my life. I love to perform and go to performances of musicals and ballet. Musicals and even the ballet can be loud and overwhelming. Big open spaces, a loud orchestra, the sudden light changes and things like that can be very scary for someone on the autism spectrum. Drew has attended a few plays and musicals that were on a small scale and he has managed them all just fine. We spent a lot of time talking about what he should expect from the experience and he seemed to enjoy his time in a theatre. I have yet to take him to a performance at one of Houston's larger theatres but I think he would be okay.
One of my absolute dreams is to take Drew and Maddie to New York City someday so we can see Broadway shows. I love Broadway. It's just so magical and I want my kids to experience that. In October, I read an article in the New York Times about a special performance of The Lion King. It was produced in association with the Theatre Development Fund's Autism Theatre Initiative. I really did cry when I read this article (full article link is below). It was just such an amazing find. Even though my child could probably handle a full-on Broadway musical now, there are many other autistic people who would find the show very overstimulating. The article discusses the changes that were made to the show including lighting or music. They had autism educators available. They allowed people to go in and out of the theatre when they needed a break.
The link to the full New York Times article: NYT Autism-Friendly Lion King Matinee
WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT?
Movies and theatre are a part of our country's culture. Our lives are made richer by entertainment, both live and filmed. These are the parts of life that are fun and it makes us happy to have an escape from our daily grind. Even people who are on the autism spectrum should be able to enjoy the laughter and joy that we get from a great movie or a wonderful musical. Although having access to entertainment is not an inalienable right in this country, the privilege of attending cultural offerings is a special one and one we should not take for granted.
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