You Shall Go To The Ball!

Today was a special day. It saw the first ever autism-friendly panto at His Majesty's Theatre.

An autism-friendly performance takes away a lot of the loud noises and sudden flashes or strobe lighting. The house lights are never fully turned off and the audience are free to get up and walk about if necessary. Special quiet areas are also laid on in case people need to leave the performance for a short spell.

I had asked Aberdeen Performing Arts to put this on as many people with autism, and other sensory challenges, find it difficult to cope with the noise and lights at a regular performance.

A mainstream audience will never bee excluded by an autism- friendly performance, but people with autism can find themselves excluded by an unadapted performance.

I went along with my family, my son is autistic, and was delighted to see so many people in attendance.

The audience seemed to love it, and the staff were first class in their approach .

A great success, and looking forward to more performances like this being put on across Scotland!