Priority Areas: Travel Away from Home
Practice Details: Some airports offer sensory rooms that make air travel more accessible by providing a calm and quiet space. For example, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s sensory room was specifically developed to provide a space for autistic passengers and travelers with dementia, anxiety, and sensory processing disorders. The room was developed with the input of multiple community stakeholders, including the Open Doors Organization, The Arc of King County, and Seattle Therapy Network therapists.
Why It’s Promising: Airports are known for being busy and overstimulating, which can decrease accessibility for travelers with sensory processing disorders. Sensory rooms increase access and encourage all travelers to utilize air travel. The CEO of the Seattle Therapy Network said,“A sensory room creates an opportunity to help neurodiverse individuals to feel a sense of belonging in this public space. It would offer them (and their families, companions, and caregivers) the ability to regulate and manage the demands of air travel, calm their sensory systems between flights, and have a quiet, sensory friendly way to find respite in an environment that is well known for being loud, busy, unpredictable, and visually overwhelming.”
Replication: Several airports across the United States have implemented sensory rooms. When replicating sensory rooms, it’s important to include people with disabilities in the design and process.
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