There are a lot of things we take for granted. like walking on the road, eating at a restaurant or going for movie. For a person with disability, these things may be a dream. If we do not make the road, restaurant or theater accessible, persons with disabilities may not be able to enjoy thes facilities at all.
Accessibility is not just about ramps, though. There are many kinds of disability and we need to create access in as many ways …For the physically challenged, we need to have more accessible roads, transportation and ramps; for the visually challenged, we need more descriptive audios and signs in Braille; for the hearing impaired, we may need written directions, subtitles and sign language interpretations …
But what about those on the Autism spectrum? They do not have any visible differences but have sensory issues that make it difficult for them to tolerate loud sounds, to be in the dark and sit for long periods. Often they cannot be part of social activities like a rock concert, a wedding or a movie as the sound levels are too much for them to tolerate.
I am the parent of a 22-year-old with autism and run The AMAZE Charitable Trust, a training centre for those like him. Last year, we tried going out as a group for a movie. We picked a morning show that we felt would be less crowded. We talked to the theatre earlier and requested them to reduce the sound levels. However, it did not happen and three of our young persons with autism could not watch the film. This made us resolve to do something about this issue.
Chennai-based Mala Chinnappa and Chinnappa Mathanda, who are also parents of a person with disability, run a forum called A Special World through which they work towards creating a more inclusive world.
They took up this issue with Satyam Cinema and after a year of discussions came the first-ever SENS show. Held on August 5, in both Chennai and Coimbatore, it was a sensory-friendly showing of the 2016 movie, The Jungle Book. In Coimbatore, the theatre was three-fourths full (121 seats of the available 194). With low volume, dim lighting, children free to move around, a special gluten-free, casein-free, sugar-free menu, longer intervals, and supportive and friendly staff, it was a red carpet welcome for our superheroes. One family of four had come from Salem . The cherry on the cake was that August 5 was Friendship Day and the children got to spend it with their loved ones and friends. As 24-year-old Saswath Krishna, a wheelchair user, said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and liked the fact that my younger brother and I could come out together for a fun outing.”
We look forward to this show on the first Sunday of every month and hope it will be rolled out in other cities too.