More Than Accessibility: Easterseals Is Transforming How Public Venues Include Disabled Individuals

Accessibility accommodations in event spaces are not unique. From accessible parking, seating, and even restrooms, disabled people have tools necessary to enjoy public outings. Thankfully, accessibility and inclusion are always evolving, including new and innovative resources that ensure safety and self-regulation. For Easterseals Southern California, this meant the creation and establishment of sensory spaces.

For some neurodivergent individuals, the sheer scale of major venues and stadiums, coupled with the events they host, can be cognitively and physically overwhelming. Yet, rather than exclude people from enjoying an event, Easterseals Southern California sought to reinvent and reframe how public spaces can accommodate a variety of disabilities. From the catalyst behind the creation of sensory spaces, the overall partnerships created, and the public’s response to sensory spaces, members of Autism Services for Easterseals Southern California explore the desire to create environments for all.

Creating Safe Spaces

Navigating the world as a disabled individual can be a scary and challenging endeavor. While Easterseals provides support for disabled people through therapies, schooling, and job placement programs, Vice President of Clinical Training and Quality Alyssa Kavner notes that the world itself may still lack the appropriate knowledge and tools to allow disabled people to thrive. Thus, sensory spaces were created—not as a temporary solution to overstimulation, but to normalize disabled people existing in public venues.

“What we’re seeing is that when [public venues] aren’t designed with that same [inclusive] philosophy in mind, it can sometimes limit how far someone can go,” Kavner said. “It can limit them in terms of access, how long they can stay there, and whether they truly feel like they belong in that environment. That really shifted our thinking from ‘How do we support this individual?’ to ‘How do we start to support the environments that individuals live in and in the communities they live in?’”

Kavner explains that there is a misconception about a sensory space's role. While some believe sensory spaces are equivalent to quiet spaces, Kavner states that sensory spaces can be whatever the individual needs in that moment to help with overstimulation and regulation. For individuals to enter one of the spaces, they can expect to find couches, tables, and chairs, and even voice-activated tools like Google to control lights and sounds. While there are preset options, Kavner says individuals can also use voice controls to change the room to fit their specific needs.

Not only do sensory spaces create places of respite for neurodivergent people, but their inclusion helps to normalize the notion that disabled people have a right to exist in and enjoy public spaces. Senior Regional Vice President of Provider Networks Monique Taylor explains that sensory spaces are a crucial educational tool for the public. As venues create spaces for groups like families, pets, and children, Easterseals Southern California sought to redefine how disabled people interact with public spaces.

“Everyone does a good job of recognizing physical barriers in public spaces,” Taylor said. “We have wide doors and automatic openings, ramps, and parking. But I think what we overlook is the sensory needs, how the environment is making somebody feel, and how we can help accommodate or shape that. It would be nice to have a space available where [neurodivergent people] can relax and pull themselves together a bit, and then reenter the more stimulating setting in a more prepared manner.”

Community Partnerships

To achieve this goal of elevating accessibility, Easterseals Southern California began working with similarly valued local stadiums and other venues to slowly incorporate sensory spaces into the public. Kavner states that, initially, the creation of sensory spaces took approximately a year and a half of product and use research before approaching places, with the first being SoFi Stadium. Now, each sensory space takes roughly three to four months from the initial approach of a venue to launch. As Easterseals Southern California's Regional Training Supervisor for the West LA and South Bay Area Stephanie Sinn explains, collaboration with public spaces is key to ensuring a safe and entertaining environment for disabled individuals.

“The success of [sensory spaces] is really tied in with the training component,” Sinn said. “It’s just a space, but adding the confidence for our staff or the staff at the stadium is a big piece. What we did at SoFi was train all staff in accessibility and inclusive communication. That included vendors inside and outside of the stadium and parking staff in a collaborative way, where they could communicate together how they would approach situations within accessibility areas.”

Once sensory spaces were established, Easterseals Southern California further taught SoFi Stadium’s staff how to properly use each space. Sinn notes that employees “figured out what [these tools] are for, and how they can support somebody who has a question about how to use the space.” Yet, to properly ensure each training session for sensory spaces would fully respect disabled individuals, Kavner mentions the partnership between Easterseals and disabled community members.

“We also have a disability strategist, Emily Ladau, and an autism strategist, Aaron Likens,” Kavner said. “We often include them in the process to make sure we have that lived experience and voice, alongside us, to create these trainings.”

The Public Response

Easterseals Southern California’s goal is not to simply install sensory spaces, but rather to create an entirely inclusive environment at each venue. Kavner explains that, aside from sensory-space training, Easterseals, in partnership with disability advocates, works with spaces to completely revamp and redefine how accessibility is approached. From the language on websites, to how announcers speak about accessibility and disabilities, and even the language on varying signs around spaces, everything is reimagined to create more inclusive venues. And the public’s response has been reflective of these positive changes.

“Stephanie and I were hosting a remote training required by all staff at SoFi, and there was one person in particular that didn’t seem to be paying attention,” Kavner said. “At the end, he lingered, and, as it turns out, he had his autistic son bouncing on the bed next to him, and he thanked us. He said, ‘My family might actually be able to see where I work now because of this space.’”

Kavner notes that every training session Easterseals hosted has featured similar stories. Even staff have commented on the benefits of sensory spaces for them, especially if the workday becomes overwhelming. Yet the most positive forms of feedback come from the public. As Research Supervisor Cynthia Rico states, sensory spaces are creating new social opportunities for disabled individuals and their families.

“Families have shared that they are able to use the sensory space to reset and return to the event, once ready,” Rico said. “Families have also shared that they feel welcomed, as opposed to accommodated. That is why we really try to be intentional about [sensory spaces] being welcoming.”

Sensory spaces not only help regulate disabled individuals but also serve to normalize the disabled perspective in public spaces. Easterseals Southern California’s goal is to help disabled people thrive. And to do so, they set out to redefine societal expectations and norms regarding the disabled experience. As partnerships continue to grow and more sensory spaces are added to venues, it is the hope of Easterseals Southern California that disability inclusion will become commonplace.

“Everyone can benefit from this,” Taylor said. “[Sensory spaces] don’t need to be identified or labeled as having a certain purpose to it. The goal of [sensory spaces] would be that it is the norm, and that you do see them in all public places. And that is something that people would have access to as needed, and not just because you have a disability or need.”