The Autism News | English

EMPIRE Cinema sponsors Alice in Wonderland for SMARTER Brunei

By Azaraimy HH | Brunei News

Autistic children from SMARTER Brunei went on a group visit to the Empire Cinema, part of a training scheme entitled ‘Community Adaptation Programme’, according to Malou Radovan, a teacher with SMARTER Brunei.

Through this programme, SMARTER Brunei arranged the cinema day-trip for the month of March, which was headed by the activity coordinator, T Alex Arce. Malou Radovan said that the visit was aimed at allowing individuals with autism to explore and experience different leisurely activities such as watching an entire film in a cinema in this case. The autistic children were encouraged to express themselves and how they felt after watching the film.

Over 180 participants which included individuals with autism (IWAs) from the three centres of SMARTER (ASD – Sengkurong, Kuala Belait, and BACA), their family members, friends and their teachers, arrived early Sunday morning at the Empire Cinema to watch the movie ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

The group took up all the available space in Cinema Two as well as some parts of Cinema Three. Popcorn and beverages were provided to the visitors to further enhance their movie experience.

A day earlier, the students had a preparation and review session for this activity, which saw the students learning the different concepts related to cinema such as the immediate area, community helpers, and the steps involved in going to the cinema as a group. A basic simulation of watching a movie was conducted in order to familiarise the students with a cinema. Some available space was converted to look like a cinema as well.

“This is SMARTER’s third time organising an activity in collaboration with the Empire Cinema. We have always considered ourselves fortunate to be able to collaborate with their staff and management. The Empire Cinema has always been able to accommodate us and actively supports our activities. They too have acquired an in-depth understanding of the needs of our IWAs especially in regards to their sensory issues which was addressed during the day.

“They managed to manipulate the cinema, thus, making it an autism friendly cinema by turning on dim lights to avoid plunging the children into total darkness as well as minimising the volume setting as well.

“With this we were able to create a gateway and a two-way relationship wherein our IWAs were able to adapt to the community and the community adapt to our needs. We hope to be able to accomplish this achievement with other establishments as well to help us attain our vision of having an autism friendly nation.

“On behalf of the parents and family members of SMARTER Brunei, we would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to the management and staff of Empire Cinema for their kind gesture in sponsoring our community adaptation programme for March,” Malou Radovan said.

Source: http://news.brunei.fm/2010/03/24/empire-cinema-is-autism-friendly-smarter/

Please share this news with friends, family and also with your contact list on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

The Autism News English Alice in Wonderland, autism, autistic, autistic children, cinema, Empire Cinema, movie, SMARTER Brunei, T Alex Arce. Malou Radovan