Marcus Theatres’ offers sensory-friendly showings for families with special needs.

Marcus Theatres Reel Movies for Real Needs is a specially designed program to serve families with special needs who seldom attend movies. It provides a welcoming and comfortable environment with lower sound and lights up so special needs families can share the experience of seeing family-friendly films at a theater.

Upcoming Reel Movies for Real Needs include:

• Spider-Man: into the Spiderverse – Dec. 15
• Aquaman – Dec. 22
• Mary Poppins Returns – Dec. 29
• Bumblebee – Jan. 5
• A Dog’s Way Home – Jan. 12
• The Kid Who Would be King – Jan. 26

A select first run movie is featured one Saturday each month at 10:30 a.m. Visit the Reel Movies for Real Needs website for location and ticket information.

Reel Movies for Real Needs is available at the following Illinois theaters:

• Addison Cinema
  1555 West Lake Street
  Addison, IL 60101
• Bloomington Cinema + IMAX
  1111 Wylie Drive
  Bloomington, IL 61705
• Orland Park Cinema
  16350 South LaGrange Road
  Orland Park, IL 60467

For questions, please call (800) 274-0099, ext. 1.

Free Santa Experiences welcome children of all ages and abilities!

Autism Speaks is once again partnering with Cherry Hill Programs this holiday season to provide free, sensory-friendly Santa Experiences for families across the country.

All families of children with autism and other special needs can enjoy a visit with Santa in a more subdued and calm environment.

Santa stops in Illinois begin Dec. 2 and are scheduled for communities including:

• Aurora
• Chicago Ridge
• Fairview Heights
• Gurnee
• Joliet
• Lincolnwood
• Lombard
• Orland Park
• Peoria
• Schaumburg
• South Barrington
• Springfield
• Rockford
• West Dundee

Go to the Autism Speaks website for the full list of Cherry Hill Programs Santa Photo Experiences in Illinois and to reserve your spot.

Sensory-friendly Santa events are free and keepsake photo packages will be available for purchase.

For more Santa visits and other Christmas-related events for children with special healthcare needs in Illinois, be sure to check our Events page.

 

Participating malls across the state invite youth of all ages and abilities to meet Santa.

Autism Speaks is partnering with Cherry Hill Programs this holiday season to provide sensory-friendly Santa Experiences for families across the country.

All families of children with autism and other special needs can enjoy a visit with Santa in a more subdued and calm environment.

Click here for the list of Cherry Hill Programs Santa Photo Experiences in Illinois.

Sensory-friendly Santa events are free and keepsake photo packages will be available for purchase.

Open-captioned performances, touch tours, audio-described performances and autism/sensory-friendly performances available for upcoming theater productions.

Chicago’s Lifeline Theatre offers a number of accessible shows this fall and winter for individuals with disabilities. A full list of the theater’s accessibility services and upcoming special performances is at www.lifelinetheatre.com/accessibility/.

For people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, Lifeline has several open captioned performances of productions for children and adults that feature a text display of the words and sounds heard during a production.

For people who are blind or have low vision, the theater offers pre-show touch tours that let audience members visit the set, feel the props and costumes and meet the characters before the performance. Audio-described performances provide a live commentary by trained describers, interspersed with the actors’ dialogue.

Autism/sensory-friendly performances for children are also scheduled and provide a relaxed experience for individuals on the autism spectrum and others with cognitive and developmental disabilities.

Anyone interested in more information can contact Accessibility Coordinator Erica Foster directly at (773) 761-4477, ext. 703, or  access@lifelinetheatre.com, or in person at the Lifeline Box Office (6912 N. Glenwood Ave, Chicago, IL 60626) Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.