Swansea City's sensory room | One season on
During the 2019-20 season Swansea City successfully introduced a sensory room which gave supporters with ASD and their families more opportunities to watch live football at the Liberty Stadium in a calming environment.
Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, use of the sensory room had to be cut short during its inaugural season. However, despite this disappointment, the sensory room has proven to be a huge hit.
As part of Level Playing Field's 'Weeks of Action' 2021, we look back at the sensory room a season on and celebrate a more inclusive matchday at the Liberty Stadium.
Swansea City began its journey to improve autism awareness in 2018 when it launched parent and carer guides along with a picture story as general admission guidance. Following consultation with a number of disability groups the club then made small but key changes to increase autism awareness including autism friendly stadium tours.
Despite these changes, the club continued to work with the Disabled Supporters Association and the National Autistic Society (Swansea) to successfully launch the sensory room in October 2019. While the pandemic may have halted the Sensory Room;s momentum, disability access officer Mark Phillips is confident demand will continue to grow once fans are able to return to watch games at the Liberty.
“We understand that some fans may have concerns once they are able to return. However, consultation has been a big part of the sensory room's journey so far and this will be no different. We will work with our DSA and NAS to ensure families feel safe and secure," he said.
"As a club we have learned so much from working with our supporters to see what works for each individual. What is great to see is that even in these uncertain times supporters continue to ask about the sensory room and say how much they’re looking forward to using the space once football returns”.
For more information on the Sensory Room visit https://www.swanseacity.com/news/sensory-room or watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qaw0waf5daI&t=139s
