Autism tailored Clip ‘n Climb and soft play sessions

High Rise in Lisburn will go quiet one Sunday morning per month for its autism tailored Clip ‘n Climb and soft play sessions from January 2023. The first autism tailored session takes place on Sunday 8 January from 10am-11.30am.  There will be no music playing in the centre, and numbers will be limited, to ensure a more comfortable environment for our autistic guests and their families. We have a pair of ear defenders which will be available at reception (subject to availability), but guests are welcome to bring their own.

During these autism tailored sessions, soft play is open to children up to age 12 while Clip ‘n Climb is suitable for those aged 4 plus, including autistic adults, and parents/carers can also participate in the activity if they choose to do so, or can join them in the climbing arena to provide support without climbing themselves.

The pre-climbing safety briefing has been adapted to be suitable for autistic guests and staff have had specialist training from Autism NI on how they can best support guests using the centre as part of our work towards achieving the prestigious Autism Impact Award. There is a Changing Places toilet facility available within High Rise.

Guests who attended these sessions previously told us how valuable they were:

“Attended autism tailored climbing with my son and wanted to say a massive thank you to everybody. You couldn’t have done more, very in tune with children on the spectrum, including visual aids. Thank you again”.

“Just visited High Rise today with my daughter who has autism and I cannot fault your staff at all, they were amazing when I mentioned it to them”.

Relaunching these autism tailored sessions, Marie Marin, Chief Executive of Employers For Childcare, the local charity which runs High Rise commented: “It’s really important to us that High Rise is inclusive and accessible for all our guests so we are delighted to relaunch our autism tailored sessions for 2023, to support our autistic guests and their families. We are passionate that High Rise is a place where families can enjoy leisure time together, whatever their needs, and this is one of the ways in which we are facilitating that.”

Autism tailored sessions will take place in High Rise on the following dates:

Sunday 8 January

Sunday 12 February

Sunday 12 March

Sunday 2 April

Sunday 7 May

Sunday 4 June

Sunday 9 July

Sunday 6 August

Guests are advised to pre-book the autism tailored sessions here.