Chuck E. Cheese has upped their service game by adding Sensory Sensitivity days at their restaurants. Amanda Moniz, an advocate for autism inclusion, contacted her local Chuck E. Cheese manager Nicole Martel with the idea of hosting a day for children with sensory sensitivity. The idea started at the South Attleboro location, and was quickly adopted by the company. Some 355 establishments are set to add a special day starting this year.
“I had approached some other businesses, but they weren’t sure it was a good idea,” Moniz, an outreach coordinator for the Rhode Island office of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders told The Sun Chronicle. “But Nicole said yes right away, as soon as she could get permission from her bosses.”
On the first Sunday of every month, the Attleboro Chuck E. Cheese closes its doors to the public, dims the lights, turns off the music, and invites families with sensory sensitive disorders out to play. The company is giving new meaning to their motto, “Where a kid can be a Kid.”
Martel told The Sun Chronicle, “Seeing autistic children and their parents enjoying themselves has been a heartwarming experience.”
With the growth of autism over the last decade, 1 in 68 children born with autism as sited by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the need for sensory sensitive activities is a much need commodity. Chuck E. Cheese’s gives families a chance to have fun and worry less about where to take their children.
Check out The Sun Chronicle story to learn more about Chuck E. Cheese Sensory Sensitivity day.