Your favorite baseball team is playing in a stadium near you. You buy your ticket and head to the stadium. You fall in line to get inside, but you feel dizzy and overwhelmed because of the big crowd, the twists and turns you need to go through to find your seat, and the noise. You eventually find your seat and eagerly await for the game to start. All of a sudden you’re all stressed out because the noise is too loud, the lights are too bright, and a stadium full of people becomes too much for you.
This is what children with autism feel when in a crowded place, be it a stadium, a theme park, or the supermarket. One fun day in the ballpark is often a stressful, meltdown-inducing experience for people with autism and their families.