In January 2009 Dulwich Paradiso Film Society (www.paradisofilm.co.uk) hosted its third autism-friendly screening for children with autism, their families and siblings.
Around 30 families attended the free screening of WALL-E, hosted in the hall of a local secondary school, with the added incentive of free popcorn and juice. But what is an autism-friendly screening and why do we hold them?
Many parents with
autistic kids never get to take their child to the cinema because they are
worried they will make too much noise or want to move around and disturb
other cinema-goers. So an autism-friendly screening is the answer because
it's a relaxed environment and OK to make a bit of noise. It's also something
whole families can enjoy together - ie non-disabled siblings can come along
and enjoy the event with their brother/sister too.
Feedback on the event was universally positive. Several parents asked us when we were doing more such screenings. One woman emailed to say her nephew had really enjoyed it and 'lasted an entire hour - glued to the screen'.
Hosting the event is a lot of fun too - something a little different from our usual screenings. Like our previous two autism-friendly screenings, this one was organised with support from Contact a Family (www.cafamily.org.uk), who distributed our flyers in their regular mailing to members, and the local branch of The National Autistic Society (www.nas.org.uk), who on this occasion paid for the licence to hire the film from Filmbank, plus the cost of printing the flyer and providing refreshments. The school provided the hall for free.
If you're thinking of organising a similar screening it's worth asking at a local school if they'll let you use the school hall. Many schools are trying to open up their facilities to the local community. They might already have a Public Video Screening Licence (see FilmBank's explanation of this) so you could then simply show any DVD without buying an additional licence.
It's very likely that there are local autism groups in your area that can help with publicity (eg send flyers to their mailing lists), and you can tell you local newspaper and even radio station too. It's worth telling your regular audience as well. Even if they don't have a child with autism it's quite possible they'll know someone who does and help pass on the word.
- Neil Johns
[Webmaster: this is a terrific idea. If your society does any special shows like this, please let me know. Maybe we can encourage more societies to make movies available to more people ... webmaster@filmsocs.org.uk ]