Children with autism don't just suffer in communicating and forming relationships; autistic kids also struggle with basic coordination and physical tasks that are just trivial for normal people. Some autism-friendly centers and spaces in the United States aim to improve autistic children's motor skills and more.
ASD Fitness Center in Orange, Connecticut is among those autism-friendly spaces for children and adults with the developmental condition. Alex Stamboulidis, a seven-year-old boy with autism, was enrolled to the center by his mother and has thrived in there since then, WTNH reported.
The child's mom, Tori-Anne Dauria, said even simple tasks such as running, skipping, jumping, or kicking a ball would be "virtually impossible" for him to do in the past. But two years of one-on-one personal training sessions at ASD Fitness Center helped Stamboulidis move "seamlessly now" and do lots of physical activities including jumping jacks, the news outlet further reported.
Dauria continued, "Before it was very hard for him to even retain one command and now they're giving him seven steps at once and telling him one time to do it and he's off doing it. It's amazing."
ASD Fitness Center's personal trainers are all equipped with working and training autistic people. They help improve patients' focus, coordination, strength, and even use visual cues like iPads and clipboards so the children would see the movements they should follow.
Adam Leapley, who co-founded ASD Fitness Center with his wife Dedra, said the gym employs a muted appearance so as to avoid overwhelming autistic children, who have difficulty processing sensory information such as sight, touch, and sound. The gym's walls are beige and its floors have mufflers installed beneath so there won't be echoing.
The center has group outings, as well as hiking trips and a "sensitive Santa" program at Christmas. These are done so autistic children and their families would connect with other people in similar situations.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has constructed a new autism-friendly center for autistic children who have therapy and treatment appointments there. To emphasize visual stimulation, the center has spinning pinwheels on the ceiling and soft floor tiles that light up when a child walks on them, CBS Local reported.
The center is part of CHOP's Autism Integrated Care Program, which has a care team composed of social workers, behavior therapists, occupational therapists, and/or speech therapists. Almost 18,000 autistic children are treated at CHOP annually, and the things that each of those kids can learn are varied.
