ASD moms (or those with kiddos with SPD)

andreas4dogs

Have you ever taken your child to a sensory-friendly movie? If so, how did they do?

We are going to give it a shot the beginning of April.

I attempted to take Gabe to the movies on Saturday (knowing full well it might not work out) but he seemed excited about it. He liked a movie he saw in school and kept talking about 'the movies'.

As soon as we walked in and sat down, he got REALLY SPOOKED and burst out crying. The theatre was too loud & he did not like the dark. No big deal, I figured it might happen. The only thing that REALLY aggravated me was this man turned around and SHUSHED Gabe for crying (and the previews were just ending, it was the middle of the day, it was kids' movie, we were seeing 'Gnomeo and Juliet' for goodness sakes). 

Anyhow, I know Gabe still wants to go to the movies, but was trying to articulate to me he didn't like the 'loud' or the 'dark' but keeps saying 'go movie.' So, I found out a theatre sortof in our area has special showings once a month in the mornings. They leave the lights on, the volume is not loud, you do not have to be quiet...and since other parents are in a similar situation, I do not have to worry about some other parent trying to 'discipline' my son for something he cannot control. 

Just wondering if anyone has tried this before!!! Thank you in advance. 

andreas4dogs

-auntie-:

These are really popular with the local ASD support community.

We never did one, DS was Ok in movies from the time he was about 4 and I started taking him to them. One complaint I hear is that the audience can be distracting depending on the crowd attending.

Thanks for the head's up. Gabe sometimes will get in a trance and stare and something / someone, particularly if it is something different...so this is the only 'issue' I see.

JenGK

I took Zach to see Toy Story 3, and he had a great time.  We sat right under a light that was on, and the volume wasn't too loud.  Zach sat for a while and toward the end of the movie he was running around in the well in front of the screen with a couple of other kids.  At one point he was climbing through a row in front of other people, and I apologized -- they just smiled and said it was fine.  A couple of kids were stimming behind us, and no one blinked an eye.

andreas4dogs

JenGK:

I took Zach to see Toy Story 3, and he had a great time.  We sat right under a light that was on, and the volume wasn't too loud.  Zach sat for a while and toward the end of the movie he was running around in the well in front of the screen with a couple of other kids.  At one point he was climbing through a row in front of other people, and I apologized -- they just smiled and said it was fine.  A couple of kids were stimming behind us, and no one blinked an eye.

That's great to know, thank you for sharing. It really makes a difference when you have other parents who are not judgmental and understand what you are going through...Hec, I don't think Gabe could sit all the way through a movie ~ so I am glad 'the rules' are different for the showing of these movies! 

jsugrin

While I haven't done it, I love the idea and am going to check to see if they do this in our area.  I do have a possible suggestion though, for the noise we got my oldest some ear muffs, like the kind you use for shooting guns, and they have been the best money spent ever!  We often use them for watching tree trimming in our neighborhood since he loves watching them cut the tree but can't stand the noise. I know you can get them at Harbor Freight for $5 so if they didn't work out for him it wouldn't be too much money down the drain.

 

Lion&Hokie

We hope to take Ben soon - most listings didn't even interest me, much less him. lol