autisim cinema trips

[wonderingsoul]

i hope you dont mind me posting this, but as its one of the buiset fourums i posted it here and special needs.

whilst browing my local cineworld i came apoun this and thought it was a great idea. at the moment its only once a month, but hopfully it'll turn weekly.

www.cineworld.co.uk/blog/autism_friendly_screenings

Come to our 'sit the fuck dwn and shut up' showings Zaty

Some people with asd don't like the sensory overload of dark room and huge noisy screen

Some people with ASD prefer the dark and sitting close to the screen as it means you can block out the existence of all other human life forms.

Depends on the individual.

It wasn't the toddlers who were making comments, it was the mothers. Some of the toddlers may not have been NT, but it isn't their comments/ running around that can be trying, it is when their mothers glare and tut at the older kids. Nobody minds what the toddlers do.

Lights up and quieter music works well for my ds2 but I can see it wouldn't work for everyone. In his case, it is just less dramatic and noisy. But I think lights down would be ok, what is so helpful, is no long wait for the film through adverts, and a quieter soundtrack with less dramatic crashes and bangs.

Would somebody mind explaining why autistic people prefer the lights on?

My autistic husband cannot stand the lights being off. It makes the screen seem so much brighter and bright lights give him migraines.

eccentrica I took DS to see The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time play as he related to the main character (who has Aspergers) but they hadn't started the relaxed performances yet so it was just a normal show. He couldn't resist making comments at some moments as he related so well to it. Bit ironic to have so many tut-tutters at DS who was clearly on the spectrum, you'd think they might have learned to be a bit more tolerant considering the subject of the play!

DS isn't bothered by the dark or loud music, we often see films at the Imax which is a sensory overload for some on the spectrum. And he likes seeing the trailers because he likes to know what other films are coming up. But he's quite complex and doesn't fit neatly into ASD or NT boxes.

I like the idea of the Gestapo screenings. DS is also very "rule-bound"

I expect he will be traffic-warden of the decade or something in later life

Mine can't handle 3D screenings. Some optical effects, like Pop Art, send him up the wall screaming too.

Eyes we are slowly moving away from front row. We're up to third from front now dd's ten now so we average a row back every couple of years.
Would love to attend "sit the fuck down and shut up" screenings to save dd commenting loudly on other peoples' wrongdoings.

purple Yes, I think it's because of Curious Incident that they started doing the relaxed performances. So ridiculous that people responded that way - clearly they weren't making the art/life connection!