The Dallas Museum of Art’s Autism Family Awareness Day Saturday was a multi-age adventure.
The DMA opened at 9 a.m., two hours earlier than normal, to accommodate the event. The two-hour program required preregistration, so the number of families in attendance was an intimate 30 or so.
Families in attendance included children with special needs, their siblings, parents and friends. Children in attendance ranged anywhere from nonverbal children to children who used wheelchairs to high-functioning. All enjoyed running, hula-hooping, painting and gluing their way through the museum.
Events and exhibits included a sensory snow station, featuring fake snow to touch and mold, felt snowflakes to glue, and paint galore.
Gracie Brozewicz, 4, was busy sculpting snow. “I’m getting my hands all dirty!” she exclaimed, beaming.
Twins Hayden and Harrison, 11, constructed planes out of “found paper”, such as newspaper, magazines, and crepe paper.
The museum featured many stations equipped with textures, sounds and colors made for young hands, such as Lego building and magnet art on a big wall.
Caleb Dillard, 14, said he loves doing arts and crafts at school, and so enjoyed the hands-on stations.
Outside, hula hoops, bubbles and more welcomed the most energetic young guests.
One room made specifically for children needing a break from sensory overload elsewhere in the museum featured soft chairs, balls and toys, lit only by subtle light for a dark, calming room.
Tours of galleries were available for older children, like siblings Joshua, Elizabeth, and Joseph Linsch. Joshua sat, pensive, in front of a robot-like sculpture, before recreating it in pencil, while his siblings pondered the gallery around him.
Arturo the parrot puppet was on hand to greet guests and get the shyest children to come out of their shells.
Maddie Morris, who puppeteered Arturo for the day, said, “It’s been really interesting to see how kids interact with the bird, and they make eye contact with him. [The personification] of the bird is something they really enjoy.”
Later on, families also enjoyed music therapist Diane Powell, who commanded an auditorium with her loud, fun, sensory-stimulating performance.
Occupational therapy students Jenna Kritchfield, Morelle Cummins, and Brittani Crawford, who attend Texas Women’s University, were on hand to assist families with exploring the museum.
“You can help the children meet their goals, but you meet them at a level of play,” said Kritchfield. “[Today], the kids are doing something they want to do and have a passion for, and we get to use our passion at the same time,” said Kritchfield. “We get to be kids ourselves.”
Angie Gammill, mother of six-year-old Jackson, said “We are just so fortunate the DMA realized the need for this. They’re very ahead of the times.”
The next DMA Autism Family Day will be April 25. Information can be found at https://www.dma.org/programs/event/autism-awareness-family-celebrations.
