Friday, June 14, Spartan Cinema will host a Sensory Friendly Movie Night.
The goal of the event is to create a comfortable and inclusive experience that is accessible to community members whose sensory needs may make going to a movie challenging.
The movie will be “Ferdinand,” and it starts at sundown in LeBauer Park in downtown Greensboro.
The UNCG and Greensboro Downtown Parks sponsored event will be held in coordination with Dr. Stuart Schleien, professor and chair, UNCG Dept of Community & Therapeutic Recreation, and InFocus.
“We have helped universally design the park for the showing of this film in ways that will accommodate all people, including those who use wheelchairs, individuals on the autism spectrum, people with hearing or visual impairments, families with young children, and older adults,” Schleien says. “Some of the accommodations we have in place for this film include having trained ambassadors on-site to provide assistance to those who may need it, roped off paths across the lawn for easy access by people with mobility issues, accessible bathrooms including a unisex/family bathroom, a “Ferdinand resting space” that will serve as a “chill zone” for people who wish to view the film behind the crowd, and volunteers in place who will raise a lighted rod before each sensory-sensitive moment during the film to warn viewers who may wish to look away or cover their ears.”
The InFocus team, a non-profit organization in which Schleien serves as co-director with Ginger Walton, has partnered with Greensboro Downtown Parks and UNCG to help produce the sensory-friendly movie night as part of Spartan Cinema.
InFocus, including highly trained self-advocates with disabilities, partners with agencies and organizations such as Greensboro Downtown Parks to create more welcoming, accessible, and accommodating communities.
