Sensory Friendly Days Provide Opportunities to Experience CT Museums

The Connecticut Science Center will be lowering the volume and dimming the lights to welcome visitors with sensory disabilities, one of a number of museums around the state that offers such special days, particularly of interest as families emerge from the limitations of the past two years of COVID precautions.  Safety protocols continue to be observed, along with initiatives to bring families back to visit and experience all that they have to offer, first-hand. 

The Science Center, located overlooking the Connecticut River in downtown Hartford, notes that “anyone who will benefit from a quieter environment is invited” to participate.  Visitors on these days will still get to experience all of the fun that the Connecticut Science Center has to offer, they point out, “just without all of the loud sounds and bright lights.”

Science Center officials note that creating a sensory-friendly experience does not have to be an all or nothing venture. “Simply providing extra information about what to expect and making adjustments to exhibits when it makes sense can be what opens the doors for families who otherwise would not have been able to attend.”

The upcoming Sensory Friendly Day will be on Saturday, May 14, 10 am to 4 pm.  Advance tickets, at $14 per person, are now available at www.ctsciencecenter.org.  In addition, 1:1 aides receive free admission. 

The Connecticut River Museum, located in Essex, has launched a Sensory Friendly Hours program for 2022.  On three Mondays this year, days the museum is not open to the general public, galleries will open from 10:00 am until 12:00 pm; visitor numbers will be limited to ensure a calm environment.

Exhibits with loud noises and/or bright lights will be modified to allow people with a range of differing abilities to experience all the Museum has to offer. A designated quiet room will be set up for the duration of the event to allow visitors to decompress, take a break, and experience the Museum at their own pace. Parents and caregivers must stay with their children at all times.  The first of the three days was held on April 25, upcoming are July 25 and November 28.  Reservations can be made here.

Imagine Nation, A Museum Early Learning Center in Bristol, presents their first Outdoor Sensory Day on Thursday, May 20, from 12:30 to 2:30 pm.  Sensory Day at Imagine Nation is FREE for participants thanks to a generous grant from the McPhee Foundation. Sensory Day is designed for children with special or sensory processing needs and their families.

This year, our Sensory Day will be held outside in the facility’s back parking lot. Children will have the use of the Outdoor Learning Park for gross motor activity and will be able to visit different activity stations such as paper marbling, making calming bottles, and bubble play. Children will also be able to visit with some of our animals and enjoy a complimentary snow cone. There will also be a limited number of noise-canceling headphones available.  For further information about Imagine Nation, and reservations for Sensory Day, call (860) 314-1400 or visit www.ImagineNation.org

A number of other museums in Connecticut have similar programs planned this month and later in the year.  Among them is Stepping Stones Museum for Children, in Norwalk, on Thursday afternoons, 3:30pm – 4:30pm.  All families are invited to play and learn at Stepping Stones during My Ability,  a new supportive program designed to facilitate sensory-friendly discoveries for individuals with sensory processing differences and other special needs.