Back in 2011, Dimensions and the UK Cinema Association joined forces to help introduce regular autism-friendly screenings to the UK, developing the work begun by Picturehouse Cinemas in collaboration with National Autistic Society (NAS) in 2009.
ODEON was one of the first UK cinema companies to roll out the delivery of autism-friendly screenings, in over 40 sites across the country. Over 3,000 guests attended those screenings, since which time they have grown tremendously in terms of availability and popularity.
2016 marked the fifth anniversary of national autism-friendly screenings in the UK. In those first five years, there were 280,000 visits to 200 screenings across 300 sites operated by ODEON, Cineworld, Vue, Picturehouse and Showcase Cinemas, with many more independent cinemas picking up the mantle and running regular programmes of their own.
While COVID impacted on the provision of autism-friendly screenings, there is a determination to return to the levels of service available pre-pandemic.
Download a comprehensive guide for cinemas on how to put on an autism-friendly screening (PDF, 2MB).
In addition to the written guide, please view the training video:
And you can also take the autism friendly quiz.
For more information about autism-friendly screenings please send an email to info@cinemauk.org.uk or visit the Dimensions website.
