Back in April, Sesame Place became the first and only theme park in the world to obtain a Certified Autism Centre qualification, and now NBC News has taken viewers inside the park to show how it is helping children with autism.
The park, which is based around the iconic children’s TV series “Sesame Street,” is located in Pennsylvania and offers a number of activities for children with special needs.
At least 80 percent of the park’s staff members have undergone specialized training in areas such as communcation, motor skills and sensory and emotional awareness.
“A park can be very intimidating, there’s a lot of different stimulants that can go on,” Sesame Place president Cathy Valeriano told NBC News.
Taking those stimulants into consideration, Sesame Place offers a sensory guide to parents which ranks each amusement ride, this can help families plan their visit and cater to children across the spectrum. There are also designated quiet rooms located around the park if the kids need a break.
“This designation just really reinforces that commitment to our guests. In addition, it ties back to a really strong partnership that we have with Sesame Workshop … which is definitely a leader in autism awareness in the programming they developed,” Valeriano told NBC’s Today show back in April.
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The theme park continues Sesame Workshop’s dedication to autism awareness, following last year’s introduction of a new muppet called Julia, a character with autism.
Staff at the park will undergo training every two years in order to keep its autism centre certification.
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Source: https://etcanada.com/news/344012/sesame-place-is-the-worlds-first-autism-certified-theme-park/
