This week?just in time for Autism Awareness Month?Europe got its first sensory room for globetrotting kids with special needs. At Ireland?s Shannon Airport, travellers with sensory sensitivities?and their caregivers?can now wait to board in the soothing Sensory Room. Inside the lights are low and the music has a spa vibe. Kids can mellow out, explore and play in this space with its colour-changing LEDs and undulating wavy wall. They can relax and watch cloud and solar system projections or the illuminated bubbles and toy fish in the aquatic tube.
Airports are usually overwhelming for kids with autism: all the fluorescent lighting, stressed-out crowds, and non-stop announcements. Parents often hesitate to book vacations far from home, just to avoid airport stress. Designated calm spaces in these busy hubs can make air travel a bit less daunting for all. Sadly, no Canadian airports have sensory rooms like the new one in Shannon, but a couple of US airports are leading the way in North America. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has created a calming space for kids with autism and sensory sensitivities in their Multi-Sensory Room. Provided by Delta Airlines, it?s painted soothing blue, with fluffy white clouds. Inside the comforting space (designed in collaboration with advocacy group The Arc) there?s a ball pit and a bubbling water sculpture, as well as giant beanbags for lounging and tactile toys that kids with sensory sensitivities love to play with.
Pho...