More family outings for kids with autism becoming available

From The Baltimore Sun. In the picture, watching "Where the Wild Things Are" with the sound lowered and lights brought up at an AMC theater to ease sensory stimulation are (from left) tutor Kelly Slaski, Eric Kane, 15, who has autism, Trish Kane, Eric's mother, and Alexis Slaski, 3, Kelly's daughter.

Like most 15-year-olds, Eric Kane loves watching movies, sometimes as many as three a night.

Yet they're almost always DVDs. Seeing the latest blockbusters on the big screen in a darkened theater wasn't always easy for the autistic teenager.

"He would start making noises when he would get overwhelmed, and it bothered the people around us," said Kane's tutor, Kelly Slaski.

But yesterday, Kane and about a dozen other autistic children took in a screening of "Where the Wild Things Are" at AMC Loews Theatre in White Marsh. Some of them squirmed in their seats; others stood and made noises along with the movie. And no one seemed to mind.

"This is nice because we don't have to constantly go 'Shh,' " Slaski said. "He can be himself."

This screening for autistic children would have been considered rare only a few years ago. But as the number of children diagnosed with the developmental disorder continues to rise - affecting one in 100 children according to a recent estimate - so have efforts to cater to them.

City museums are now opening their doors to groups of autistic kids at off-peak hours. A few churches in the region have started offering shortened services. And in recent years, a restaurant in Bel Air began training its staff to better serve autistic customers.

This signals a growing awareness of the needs of autistic children and their families as well as a desire to make sure they don't have to miss out on the everyday activities that most families may take for granted.

"Families who have children with autism live a very stressful life," said Dr. Rebecca Landa, director of the Center for Autism & Related Disorders at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. "There's very little opportunity for them to just go out and let their hair down. These events make that possible. ... They're very freeing to the families."

Autism, Asperger's and other neurobiological disorders are being diagnosed more often in children and young adults than ever before. Though the cause of these disorders remains largely unknown, new studies from the National Survey of Children's Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that roughly 1 in 100 8-year-olds have autism disorders - a sharp spike from a finding in 2007 of 1 in 150.

"We're getting more and more widespread recognition that the invisible challenges faced by individuals with autism are very real," Landa said. "Society is opening itself up more and more to create opportunities for people with autism."

The theater in White Marsh is one of more than 80 AMC theaters across the country that regularly hosts movie screenings for autistic children. Because many people with autism are sensitive to light and loud noises, the sound is turned down and the lights are turned up in the theater. The children are allowed to get up and roam around the room, and there are no previews, which can be distracting.

"We get comments all the time from families across the country who say it's the first time they've been able to do an outing together as a family, or the first time a child has had the chance to sit in a movie theater and watch a film," said Candy Huffstickler, a spokeswoman for AMC.

Once every few months, the Main Street Tower, a restaurant in Bel Air, holds an autism awareness night for families with autistic children. Restaurant co-owner Mario Buontempo usually turns off the music and the TVs for the evening to accommodate the children.

Some parents put their autistic children on gluten- and casein-free diets, believing it helps reduce the symptoms of autism. For them, Buontempo designed a gluten-free menu: His kitchen staff makes chicken fingers coated in cereal rather than breading, and meatballs without bread crumbs.

"They're innocent kids," Buontempo said. "Their families are sometimes too embarrassed when they go out to dinner. We try and make them feel comfortable so they can enjoy a family dinner."

With help from the nonprofit organization Pathfinders for Autism, Buontempo trained his staff on how to best accommodate autistic patrons. Some autistic children have fixations on certain objects such as toys. If a server tries to move the toys to set down a plate, it can trigger an outburst, he said. The wait staff also learned that people on the autism spectrum do not like to be touched - even if it's only a pat on the shoulder.

Sharon McLaughlin's 7-year-old son David has Asperger's syndrome, a less severe form of autism, which makes it hard for him to sit still long enough to finish a meal. That means dining out is rarely an option, she said. But at the Tower, she doesn't feel out of place.

"Kids with these disabilities have to get up and move around, and you don't feel like it's a sociably acceptable thing to do," said McLaughlin, who lives in Bel Air. "At the Tower's awareness night, you know other people aren't freaking out when they see someone jumping up and down. ... It's nice to have somebody supporting us."

Some churches have also adapted their services to better serve autistic worshipers. About a year ago, a Lutheran church in Pennsylvania began a service that lasts just 20 minutes, which is suited for autistic children with short attention spans. A nondenominational church in Newark, N.J., recently founded a regular half-hour service for special needs children. And the Catholic diocese in Harrisburg, Pa., is considering ways to make masses more autism-friendly.

Rebecca Rienzi - Pathfinders' director of outreach and community partnerships - works with local organizations such as the Port Discovery Children's Museum and the Maryland Science Center to help coordinate activities with autistic children. Usually, the trips are during off-peak times, when the crowds are smaller. She makes sure the venues have a quiet room reserved in case there is an episode. So far, she said, they haven't had to use one of the rooms.

This past spring, when Rienzi helped put together a trip to the Science Center, she asked the employees to turn down the sound effects to keep children from getting overstimulated. She also told them what kinds of behavior to expect from the children. The trip, which was sold out in advance, was a hit, she said.

"Families were mingling," she said. "There was no one questioning why somebody had a stroller, or why a 17-year-old was flapping arms and whooping," she said.

Six months ago, several families with autistic children approached the owners of Ultimate Play Zone in Cockeysville about organizing a play date for autistic children. The loud music and noisy generators that power the inflatable moon bounce were overwhelming for their kids, they told co-owner Carla Saviano.

Saviano and her husband Paul set aside a two-hour block one day each month for autistic kids. They turned down the music, turned off as many of the generators as they could and let fewer children into some of their play areas to keep the kids from feeling crowded.

"For some of the parents, it's a bridge to having mainstream socialization," Saviano said. "For others, it's somewhat of a support group."

Less than 10 people attended Ultimate Play Zone's first autism event, and the business lost money, Saviano said. Now, the events top out at between 30 and 40 kids.

"We've gotten lots of positive responses from parents of kids with autism," Saviano said. "It's served a need in the community."

Landa is encouraged by the number of autism-themed events in the area. She hopes to see more programs such as church services catering to people with autism in the near future.

"We do have a ways to go," Landa said. "We need more and more adaptations in public places for people on the spectrum. ... But this is a great beginning."