Above: Naamah Brown with her son, Jason. Photo courtesy Brown family
Naamah Brown grew tired of apologizing for her nine-year-old son Jason at playgrounds and indoor gyms when things become too much for him, so the Dorchester mom decided to create a safe play space for him and other kids on the autism spectrum.
A preview of her “sensory gym”— which she hopes one day to turn into a permanent business— is planned for this Sunday (April 19) at the William E. Reed Auditorium in Prince Hall.
Brown, who works part-time for the Boston Public Schools, said she is not quite ready to open a full-time business, but she is doing research and taking small steps – such as the sensory days.
Last year she held the first such day with activities like swings, zip lines, crash pads, fidget toys, quiet rooms, kinetic blocks, and other spaces that catered to autistic children. The event, funded by a one-time city grant and donations from Councillors Brian Worrell and Julia Mejia, had 90 sign-ups, with more than 40 families taking part.
“The goal now is to find out how to fund something full-time and I’ve thought about insurance as a possibility,” she said. “The afterschool and programming are important because I’ve lost jobs because of not knowing who would care for my child.
“If you don’t have a support system and doing this alone, it’s very scary,” she said, adding, “Something like this doesn’t have to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but really it’s about having a properly trained staff.”
Brown hopes her effort will inform the city and state about how to offer more for adults with autism.
“We need to look at making the city more sensory friendly,” she said. “When my son was born, it was one in 64 kids were on the spectrum and that has only gone up. They might all be cute babies and little kids now, but in eight to ten years they will be adults. I’m not sure we’re prepared for that.”
The sensory gym she calls “Jace’s Space” will be open this Sunday, from 2 to 6 p.m. at 24 Washington St., Dorchester.
