Cincinnati Zoo, in partnership with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), has been working to become the most welcoming, accessible, and inclusive Zoo for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. The Zoo has made great progress toward this goal and is inviting guests with special needs to come for its first Zoo Access for All Day on Tuesday, August 14.
Zoo staff members and volunteers have received training to promote inclusion through CCHMC’s Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) program and are ready to welcome all guests. In addition, the Zoo will offer (on or before August 14):
• adult changing tables
• sensory maps
• a skip-the-line rides access pass
• social narratives, visual supports
• sensory bags filled with oral motor chewy tubes, fidgets, bubble makers, noise-canceling headphones, sunglasses, etc.
A calming room and another family restroom that is sensory friendly will be ready in early 2019.
Zoo Access for All Day is a great opportunity for guests to check out what the Zoo has done to ensure that all members of the community have the opportunity to make a positive connection to wildlife and wild places. Organizations that provide services for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families, as well as cultural organizations within the city who are also focusing on this community, will be on site from 9am – Noon to highlight what they offer.
Visit these service stations between 9am-12pm
Great Parks
Cincinnati Art Club
ABC Pediatric Therapy
Because You Matter, LLC
Cincinnati Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired
A Kid Again
Muscular Dystrophy Association
Spina Bifida Coalition of Cincinnati
Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati
The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati
Easterseals
The Children’s Home of Cincinnati
Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities Services
The TALL INSTITUTE
May We Help
Usborne Books & More!
Ken Anderson Alliance