Calm rooms and sensory walls in malls can make the difference for parents with special children

PETALING JAYA: Introducing autistic-friendly facilities such as calm rooms and sensory walls in shopping malls can be life changing for families with autistic individuals.

As Jennifer Peters, a speech-language therapist and parent of a child with autism, puts it, taking children with autism out, particularly to malls where loud sounds and too many movements could spark a sensory overload, is not as easy as it may seem.

“When my daughter was younger, her sensory inputs got overloaded quite quickly during mall trips. There is much noise and so much movement with various colours and lights that could cause a meltdown,” Jennifer told theSun in conjunction with World Autism Day today.

“Every time she has a meltdown, we would have to pack up and leave so that we can tend to her needs first. There were no specific rooms in malls where I, as a mother, could take her to for her to calm down while the rest of the family could walk around and have us join them later,” she said.

Jennifer added that these meltdown episodes also affect all family members in different ways.

“As a mother, you want to keep your child safe and as a father, you may want to help reduce the stares your family is getting. Siblings would probably just want a decent normal outing but are met with the meltdown,” she said.

A mall operator has taken the initiative to make things easier for parents of autistic children.

Such havens for autistic individuals have been made available at the Sunway Putra Mall in Kuala Lumpur since 2019. The facility (pix) is provided under its “Autsome” campaign, general manager Danny Lee Yan Leng told theSun.

“Such initiatives are here to stay, like the baby rooms that are now part and parcel of all shopping malls,” he added.

Lee expressed hope that there will be greater understanding and acceptance of autism among the people.

“This will help to reduce unpleasant experiences and stress levels for families with autistic individuals. Additionally, Sunway Malls is also looking into adopting this initiative depending on the space, size of the mall and resources available, and will adapt and roll out this initiative to other Sunway malls soon,” he added.

“The goal is to have at least calm rooms and sensory walls; if there are enough resources, then perhaps to extend the welcome kit, so families register themselves for easy identification. We also hope to see more corporate bodies coming on board to support autism awareness and advocate acceptance,” he added.

Senior manager and COE creative marketing at Sunway Malls Melissa Hashim said the initiatives the mall provides include the Autsome Kit, which includes a car sticker, a wrist band for easy identification including useful information on how they can enjoy the autism-friendly facilities; autism-friendly shopping day every Tuesday excluding public holidays; reserved parking spaces; and shopping assistance.

Other facilities include calm rooms that provide a calming environment with sensory toys, weighted blankets, essential oils and bean bags; and sensory walls.

“We have worked with associations such as the National Autism Society of Malaysia and have also collaborated with the Autism Behavioural Centre (ABC) to ensure we have the right advice and approaches. ABC provided training to all the frontliners, management staff and tenants’ staff,” Melissa said.

She said that apart from their partners, the mall operator also sought input from parents with autistic children when planning such facilities.

“The mall also conducts training for all staff and tenants from time to time on understanding and handling autistic customers too,” she added.