Featured
Balloon Fiesta has a sensory station: here's what you need to know
Published
Modified
The sa国际传媒官网网页入口 International Balloon Fiesta is taking measures to make the festival more inclusive to all visitors.
Between the cold mornings, large crowds and colorful balloons filling the skies, Balloon Fiesta has no shortage of things to do and see. Though the event can be exciting, sometimes it can be overwhelming.
But there is a solution. KultureCity, a nonprofit based in Birmingham Alabama, offers a sensory trailer to provide Balloon Fiesta visitors a break from everything. KultureCity was created by two parents with a son who is autistic. They noticed a lack of safe spaces for their son when they were in public and decided if they didn鈥檛 have access to a safe space, they would make one.
鈥淲e work with people who have sensory needs like autism or PTSD or any other disability, and we go to a lot of different events and make them sensory inclusive by providing some sort of mobile version of a sensory room,鈥� said Isabel Stilwal, event specialist with KultureCity.
Stilwal, who started with the company as an intern, said the room has equipment to help relax people who are overstimulated at public events.
鈥淭here鈥檚 sensory on the walls, some air tubes on the wall, and it鈥檚 a quiet place people can step into when they鈥檙e overwhelmed,鈥� she said.
The mobile sensory station is designed to relax guests. Small beanbags sit on either side of the room for visitors to take a rest between walking through crowds and waiting in line for breakfast. The walls are decorated with interactive activities to help a person refocus. The room is dark inside except for the soft, neon lights generated from air tubes that create a relaxing light show for its visitors.
KultureCity also provides sensory bags for people. Among their contents: noise reducing headphones, a variety of fidget toys, strobe reduction glasses, a visual cue card so nonverbal people can point on the card to indicate things they need or feel, and a weighted lap pad. Guests are able to keep all the items.
Stilwal said guests at the Balloon Fiesta last year were appreciative of the room .
鈥淧eople definitely use it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t varies event to event but I feel like it makes a difference being here because people will step in here multiple times, stay here for a while and grab a bag. And for a lot of people it鈥檚 more than a bag. There are a lot of essential tools to keep people safe and happy.鈥�
