https://highriseni.org/key-information/accessibility/autism-tailored-activities/
High Rise offers autism friendly activities EVERY Sunday morning at 9:45am. These are perfect for autistic children and adults and their families.
We offer both autism friendly Clip ‘n Climb and soft play during this time – you can find out more about how these work below. We always recommend pre-booking for these sessions.
We also have a set of ear defenders that you are very welcome to borrow for the duration of your visit (depending on availability) – but you may wish to bring your own.
Every Sunday at 9:45am and at other times during school holidays, High Rise has an autism friendly Clip ‘n Climb session. Our staff have received specialist training on supporting our autistic guests and we know that sometimes just a few small adjustments can make all the difference for someone with autism.
(Please note, the Leap of Faith will not be available during these sessions)
How do the sessions work?
Every Sunday at 9:45am and at other times during school holidays, High Rise has an autism friendly soft play session. Our staff have received specialist training on supporting our autistic guests and we know that sometimes just a few small adjustments can make all the difference for someone with autism.
What guests have had to say about our autism tailored sessions :
“High Rise, without a doubt is the best facility in the country in terms of staff awareness and training in Autism. Every time we have been all the staff have been fantastic with both my children. Today was the first time I didn’t go into the arena while my children were climbing because I knew the staff would support my son if needed. And that’s exactly what they did. At one point he just sat at the side as he was a little overwhelmed and at least 2 staff members came over to ask if he was ok. We absolutely love High Rise. Thank you so much for training your staff in additional needs-it really does mean the world to families like us!”
“Thank you for running the quiet sessions. This is the only way I could bring my add needs child. He had been looking forward to this for 4 weeks and he was not disappointed. I really appreciated the lower numbers and shorter training session and the background music turned off. This does make a massive difference.”
“The ASD sessions are kept quiet and low. The place is always so clean and tidy. And High Rise have the best staff I’ve ever met. We enjoy coming as much as we can.”
“This was our tenth visit to High Rise since last June. We value the autism sessions greatly as they provide a safe space for us as a family. As an autistic adult I struggle with anxiety, high rise is somewhere I know we can go each month that will be stress free. The staff never fail to impress us with their kindness and consideration. They treat all of our children as individuals and do so with everyone else in the sessions also. Our 5 year old will not attend ANY other settings at all as they cause him so much distress. Yet he marches into High Rise and talks to the staff and tells them jokes (it’s just one joke that he tells over and over again!) We are very appreciative.”
High Rise has achieved the prestigious Autism NI Impact Award in recognition of the ways in we support autistic guests and their families, and how we have created an ‘autism accessible environment’.
On Sunday 8 December from 10am High Rise is hosting an Autism Friendly Christmas Experience for our autistic guests and their families.
This includes choice of activity (Clip ‘n Climb or soft play) followed by a family visit to Santa’s magical grotto in one of our sensory rooms.
Limited tickets remaining – find out more and book here.
To find out about future autism friendly activities and events in High Rise, sign up to our newsletter here.