The NSU Art Museum hosted its second Sensory Saturday event for children on the autism spectrum ages 6 to 17 on Saturday, Nov. 9.
The event is hosted on the second Saturday in September, November, January and March. It started for the first time on Sept. 14. The next event is Jan. 11, 2025.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, autism impacts social communication and behavior. It can make people sensitive to lights and sounds.
The event had about 25 parents and children. It had four stations for children to be creative, like creating a wearable paper camera, a geometric sticker collage, quiet room one and visual color collage.
Jed-Lee Metayer, museum security officer, has seen the program bring joy to families with children who are on the spectrum.
“I’ve seen so many parents walk in here with a smile on their face from the moment they walk in to the moment they leave. Kids really appreciate one on one time, which is why I’m glad that there’s so many volunteers here. All people who are doing this at the kindness of their heart, who are excited to help,” Metayer said.
Lisa Quinn, Lillian S. Wells Education Curator, said she received feedback from attendees of September’s event, much of which she implemented for November’s, with the help of volunteers.
“We all met together after the first one, to talk about what worked and what didn’t work and how we can improve. And we also had a run-of-show meeting prior to this day. So since these kinds of programs need a lot of preparation work, everyone needs to be on the same page right when they walk through the door,” Quinn said.
All of the staff members and volunteers needed to go through training with professional autism coaches so that they may be eligible to receive a KultureCity certification. With a KultureCity certification, programs like this can receive sensory bags for all participants. NSU Art Museum is also the only organization certified in Broward.
Sensory bags had noise-cancelling headphones, laptops and fidget toys, as well as a pass to a quiet space if they need.
This program is funded by the Robert E. Dooley Trust NSU Center for Autism Endowment Fund, which funds half of the division of research program at NSU. The other half goes to special event programs like Sensory Saturdays.
Janice Dooley-Sheppard, trust donor, believes that it is important to have events like Sensory Saturdays because of her own family. Dooley-Sheppard remarried, and her current husband has a grandson in his early 30s who is autistic.
“He has severe autism and is nonverbal. I just wanted to do our part for the community and to help with what we can, especially to help families dealing with an autistic child, knowing all of the problems that come with that,” she said.
Metayer believes that with this program, children on the spectrum can express themselves in a similar way that others are able to.
“The opposite of depression is expression. So the more that you keep things confined within yourself, the more that it becomes part of your subconscious, the more that it eats away at you. It’s important for kids to understand at an early age, you need to express your emotions, but how you express those emotions is the most important part,” Metayer said.
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