LAS VEGAS (KLAS)— It’s the first room of its kind in Nevada, the Dollar Loan Center arena in Henderson unveiled its sensory room to the public this weekend with the goal of providing a welcoming space for guests with autism or other sensory requirements.
The facility teamed up with KultureCity, a nonprofit focusing on sensory accessibility to make it come to life.
“Once we established a location we had the size and dimensions, we sent all that info to our team of occupational speech behavior therapists along with positions and they point out the different elements that go in the room,” explained KultureCity executive director Uma Srivastava. “We all have 8 senses, not 6, so our sensory rooms really cater to 6 of those 8 senses. The two that we don’t touch on are smell and taste, that’s just because they’re so subjective, you talk about allergies and you can’t get rid of smell quickly.”
From tactile walls to fidget toys, the center hopes this new room will give families more opportunities to enjoy events at the center while still providing those sensory needs for both adults and children.
“The Dollar Loan Center is really focused on 3 important things, the first is sports obviously with our sports team that we have here at the facility, the second is Henderson and the third is families, so we want this facility to be welcoming and inclusive to families,” said Darren Davis, the VP of operations. “I think this room will be an awesome addition and a great way to welcome families.”
Joseph Ralston, director of guest services at the Dollar Loan Center brought this concept to Henderson after working with KultureCity in California, he hopes other businesses will follow this lead by including sensory rooms.
“It’s really cool to have a room dedicated to all types of people dealing with sensory issues and it can be such a huge help to southern Nevada and hopefully this starts a trend for all of Nevada where we can get these rooms in every single sports venue and hopefully we’re that catalyst that starts it off and gets it across all states,” said Ralston.
Employees ask guests to limit their time to 10-15 minutes in the sensory, so everyone gets a chance to use it if needed.
Sanitizing wipes are also included in the room.