I've never posted in the SN area before, but often read threads with interest, and have learnt so much from you all. I just wanted to share with you something that my dh has done (yes, dh, and no he doesn't have any special needs), for which I am very proud of him.
Dh is a cinema manager, and a while ago they received a letter from a mother of an autistic child. She wasn't compaining, but just drawing the company's attention to the difficulties she had had when taking her son to the cinema. She explained that his behaviour was sometimes a little "odd" (her words). During the film he started making a lot of noise, and some people complained to a member of staff about them and asked for them to be thrown out. She said that although the staff tried to be helpful, she felt they were very unsure how to deal with them. She wondered if the cinema could perhaps raise awareness among the staff of the types of issues that might be raised when dealing with children with SN.
Dh was very concerned about this, so contacted a local support group (I presume through the lady - not sure) for parents with autistic children. He organised a private screening (not sure what film) for them one Sunday morning a little while ago. He realised that maybe there were a lot of people who would like to take their children to the cinema, but felt that it would be too difficult, too many "tuts" and "looks".
He's just had a thank you letter from the group, which was really touching to read. Most of them said it was so nice to not have to worry about what other people were thinking, and to know they could leave at any point, and return without causing problems. Many of them also said that it was the first time their children had sat through a whole film.
He's had a request to do this again, and I hope that it becomes a regular thing. Unfortunately, he isn't able to do it free for them, but I don't think that's actually the issue, anyway.
Sorry to ramble on, I was really moved when dh told me all this - I knew he'd had the letter, but I didn't realise that he'd taken it further than writing back to the lady. He's not the most well-informed person when it comes to things like this, I was just amazed that he showed such empathy. (after 10 years of marriage he can still surprise me! )