A SENSORY room for passengers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is going to be built at Alicante Elche airport, so that they can wait for their flight in a safe and wellordered space with suitable stimuli.
It will be located near the boarding area and will be equipped with materials designed to minimise any stress that the airport procedures could cause to a passenger with ASD, according to state airport company AENA.
This will include tactile, luminous and audiovisual elements to offer stimuli that are ‘controlled and adapted’ to the sensory sensitivity of each person, in order to ‘gradually adapt’ their tolerance for interactions they will have in the airport.
In parallel, the airport is developing a video to show the route that passengers with ASD will take from their arrival to the boarding gate. The objective is to anticipate the different stages they will encounter so that they will feel calmer and safer as they pass through the airport.
This initiative is part of a plan to improve the quality of all passengers’ experiences, which encompasses multiple actions designed to meet the needs of various profiles of people, particularly those with functional diversity.
AENA also announced it had finished soundproofing another 130 homes near Alicante Elche airport, as part of its acoustic insulation plan.
Full report in today’s Costa Blanca News
