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ALTON - Christie Rickman, a special needs teacher at Alton High School, wanted the community to know of an effort she considered a blessing for students recently at the NCG Movie Theater in Alton.
NCG hosted the Autism and Intellectual Physical Disabilities Community Trip. NCG discounted the movie price for the students and allowed them to see a movie that definitely sparked their attention - "Sonic the Hedgehog 2." NCG accommodated the students with many sensory options from lighting, to sound, etc. There also was plenty of popcorn and drinks available for the students. Mrs. Barron and Ms. Prott's Alton classes joined Mrs. Rickman's class at the event.
“NCG is such a blessing to our community for granting access to a larger part of our community,” Rickman said. “They accommodated so many diverse special needs on the day of our trip. We have several children with autism or on the spectrum and also had deaf and hard of hearing students, students in wheelchairs, and other special needs. NCG accommodated all of them.”
Rickman stressed that her students have not been able to do a community outing of this nature for two years because of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“It meant so much to our students,” she said. “It was wonderful; we worked with the corporate division and a local manager named James. We had 38 total on our trip. We did social stories for lessons from the movie and worked on theater etiquette the whole week prior to going. One parent said their child had never sat through a movie ever, until this one. We are all so thankful.”
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