Toys R Us Opens Early To Give Austistic Children A “Quiet Hour”

With the holidays quickly approaching, it’s easy for anyone to get overwhelmed when trying to shop for friends and family in a busy department store. Considering how kids view Toys “R” Us as their own Valhalla, any kid could be taken aback with all the sights and sounds. For autistic children who are even more susceptible to their surrounding stimuli, the toy store chain’s Lafayette, LA location made special accomodations for families to get a headstart on making their wishlists.

Families seemed incredibly appreciative that the store made the special accommodations available, as wandering around a toy store to create a wishlist is sometimes a more exciting experience for a child than any presents they receive.

Parent Sylnita Bougere says of the experience, “Christmas shopping is difficult. And bringing him to the store where there’s loud music and bright lights and things like that, it stimulates him to the point where he can’t communicate to me in his own way what he likes.” It’s clear that the experience was successful, as Bougere noted, “I think that every mother of an autistic child should have this experience. I wish that every Toys-R-Us in the country could do this because it’s such a widespread issue now.”

Another parent, Stephanie Krielow, explains, “The pressure to be able to stay and withstand everything going on around us is always a hassle.”

[H/T KLFY]