BUDA — Tania van Bree and her family have lived in Buda for 10 years and she has wanted to participate in city-held events, but felt like it would have been difficult for her son, who has Level 3 autism. This led her and the city to join forces in offering feedback on how to implement sensory-friendly initiatives for her family and others and better serve all members of the community.
“He needs the most support for that kind of diagnosis — he is also non-speaking — and large crowds, lots of sound and lots of visually-exciting things sometimes cause him to get really distressed and give him a lot of anxiety, especially if it's new,” van Bree explained. “When there's lots of events happening, we want to still participate and do things as a family, but a lot of times, those awesome family events that we could maybe take my daughter to, we've always had to pick and choose between do we just take my daughter and split up our family or is this something that we're gonna just bail out of entirely because it would be too difficult and too distressing for him.”
On the city’s 2023 post about the annual Trail of Lights event, van Bree commented, asking if they have ever thought about hosting a sensory-friendly night or something similar. As her son, Willem, loves hiking, van Bree said that they go to Stagecoach Park — where Trail of Lights is held — very frequently, so “it's a really good opportunity for him to be in a familiar place with just a little extra pizzazz and the holiday spirit and everything.”
She shared that the city of Buda promptly responded to her. City officials agreed to meet with van Bree through a Zoom call to get a preliminary idea of what they could do to benefit the community; they also allowed her to go with them on a golf cart and check out the changes they made, while also allowing her to give any additional suggestions.
“Within weeks, they had implemented the beginning of what became just a great movement and a model for everybody else to say, ‘Hey, we don't want to leave your family out and we want to make these small adjustments to our events in order to make it comfortable for not just your family, but other families like yours,’” van Bree said. “I really felt like I was part of their team. I can't speak for every person with a disability or with special needs in our community, but I'm pretty familiar with the things that a lot of people need and a lot of children and families might need.”
One of those changes that have been made is offering what has been deemed as “calming tents” at the Trail of Lights, where individuals and children can take some time from the lights, sounds and crowds — inside of these spaces are earmuffs, toys, soft blankets and more.
Another, which has made a big difference for several people, according to van Bree, is not being required to take the shuttle bus on the sensory-friendly night.
“I appreciate that it exists because the parking situation would otherwise be too difficult for the big event, but on that sensory-friendly night, just between the hours of 5 [p.m.] and 6 [p.m.], we are allowed to park our cars right there at Stagecoach Park,” van Bree explained. “By eliminating the transfer with the shuttle, our kids don't have to stand and wait, which they usually have trouble with. The sensory overload of the loud noises from the bus, the smells from the exhaust, all of that kind of contribute to a sensory overload experience. Being able to be parked very close by, you're familiar with the vehicle and walking directly into the events is really important.”
“I know for my kiddo, being in a space when it is still a little familiar to them, it's important. So, starting at 5 [p.m.] is great because it's still light enough out to see where you're going, but then, you're able to ease into the event,” she added. “If kids get comfortable there, they can stay and enjoy it with everybody else in our community as it gets darker, but easing into that day to night in a new place was also a huge addition.”
The initiatives do not stop there, as the Buda Public Library has more recently started offering a calming space during open hours in which that specific room is not being used for another program.
“Anytime outside of those hours, we have a calming space where there's a collection of materials that help pretty much anyone that needs the space. It's designed to kind of accommodate a lot of different needs, from a toddler who is upset and having a tantrum to someone with autism who might see sensory toys and sensory stimuli. We have a lot of different accessories. We also have books and materials that caregivers can go through to kind of help stimulate their child,” said Caitlin Foley, assistant director for the library. “It's not a one size fits all for everyone. We try to include a lot of differences so that a bunch of people with different needs go into that space and find something that will help [them] get through whatever they're needing.”
Foley added that the library has also been adding a 30-minute sensory-friendly time ahead of events for those members of the community who may need it.
“During that time, there's no music. We reduce crowds, so we try to market this just to families who might need a sensory-friendly time and they can come and participate in all the activities. It’s a little bit more of a mellow start to an event,” she said. “Then, there's a few events that don't really work to have that extra 30 minutes. For example, we have an astronomy night that we do multiple times a year and adding a 30-minute sensory time ahead of it would mean it would be light outside and you wouldn't really see the astronomy aspect of it. For that one, we have accommodations where we have the same activities, but located in a quieter space. So, if they still want to do the activities, they can.”
The library staff have been trying to look at each event, talking with the community and seeing what they need and how to implement that the best way possible.
Similar to the other city-wide initiatives, those at the Buda Public Library stemmed from community feedback through a variety of ways, including surveys during the five-year library long-range plan.
“We also just have a lot of families that are really strong advocates for themselves and for their children and will chat with us about things that would help them and then also the communities that they are a part of. We also talk with a lot of resource specialists whenever we have questions about what would be best and how we can best serve the needs of our students,” said Foley.
Looking to the future, the city of Buda has the intent of expanding the sensory-friendly accommodations to other events, such as Budafest and Booda Halloween, according to assistant city manager Lindsey Baker.
“We are looking at doing a couple of sensory-friendly areas, so making sure that there is a tent similar to what we have right now over for the holiday lights. It [would be set up] where we typically have a carnival, food vendors and other activities. We can either set up a tent or we can use green rooms there as a cabin space, again with the earmuffs, toys and calming devices and accommodations,” Baker explained. “The other option that we've been looking at, and are ready to execute on, during the parade, is being able to set up a livestream to broadcast into the welcome center … as a sensory-sensitive area, so families can watch the parade inside to help reduce that noise.”
For Baker, being able to serve all individuals in the community and to offer these specific accommodations and resources is a component of that.
“We're here to serve everybody, not just some, and [we want] to make sure that our families — all members of our community — have an opportunity to come and engage. That may not look the same for everybody,” she said. “As we talk to some more families in our community, we learn how to do better everyday and so we really think that that's important and we value that. We value our community members and we value their ability to come and engage and participate in our activities.”
Foley agreed, adding that the Buda Public Library is geared to be a community space, where the staff is trying to serve everyone, ensuring that they all have a welcoming place and their needs are met.
“When we hear something that would make it easier for them to visit the library, easier for them to interact with our services [and] with our space, we're definitely going to see if we can implement it,” Foley shared. “It's really important to us that everyone feels like to visit the library comfortably and have the space that they need.”
As a mother of a child who has autism, van Bree shared that sometimes, it can feel isolating; therefore, the “special needs community” benefits from these kinds of opportunities to come out and be a part of events and activities with everybody else. She said that she hopes that what the city of Buda and the library have done will become a model for other organizations and businesses to think about the sensory needs of others.
“They are here and they are part of our community. It should be their right to be included everywhere. Just the same way that somebody with a wheelchair might need a ramp and be entitled to a ramp to get to where they need to go,” van Bree said. “This is something that makes it accessible to provide them their civil rights.”
To learn more about Buda Public Library events and programs, visit www.budalibrary.org.
