Chuck E. Cheese’s, known as the place “where a kid can be a kid,” will now truly be a place for all children, including those with special needs.
On April 2, in recognition of World Autism Day, Chuck E. Cheese’s locations across the country and Canada will roll out Sensory Sensitive Sundays to cater to children with autism and other special needs, according to a press release.
The program was first tested at 54 locations across the Northeast and will now expand to 355 locations nationwide after many parents and autism organizations expressed interest in it. The national expansion kicks off Autism Awareness Month.
Sensory Sensitive Sundays will take place on the first Sunday of every month, two hours before participating restaurants open to the public. During these two hours the lights will be dimmed, the show and music will be turned down or off, and there will be limited appearances of costumed characters.
“Our tagline is ‘where a kid can be a kid,’ and we want to ensure we extend this ideal to kids who otherwise may not be able to enjoy Chuck E. Cheese’s due to the sensory overload,” Ami Anderson, senior director of advertising and media at Chuck E. Cheese Entertainment, said in a statement.
Chuck E. Cheese’s partnered with the Center for Autism and Related Disorders—an organization that uses applied behavior analysis in the treatment of autism spectrum disorder—to make Sensory Sensitive Sundays possible.
There will be 22 locations in New York offering Sensory Sensitive Sundays, including restaurants in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Long Island, Staten Island, and Rockland County, as well as 14 locations in New Jersey. For more information and to find a participating location near you, visit Chuck E. Cheese’s website.
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Main image: Sensory Sensitive Sundays will soon be available at 355 Chuck E. Cheese’s locations across the U.S. and Canada.
Courtesy Flickr/Mike Mozart/CC 4.0
