Taco Bell Arena first “sensory inclusive” college arena in the nation

By Jordan Erb, The Arbiter

Quicken Loans Arena, home of the Cleveland Cavaliers, was the first NBA arena to become “sensory inclusive.” Soon after, MetLife Stadium, field of the New York Giants, became certified in sensory inclusion. Boise State’s Taco Bell Arena has followed in the footsteps of some of the most prominent stadiums and arenas in the United States to become the first college arena to get the certification.

Sensory inclusivity is a movement that “allows individuals with autism and other sensory needs the ability to see and experience all the things the world has to offer,” according to KultureCity, the nonprofit that partnered to certify the arena.

Getting certified as a sensory inclusive establishment required training by KultureCity, where both full-time and part-time staff were taught how to assist guests with sensory needs. To help staff with this task, sensory bags will be available at seven different stations in Taco Bell Arena. The drawstring bags include a communication card, noise-canceling headphones, fidget toys that help with sensory processing and a weighted lap pad that is intended to calm guests in a sensory overload situation.

“If you think about when you go to bed at night, and you hop in bed and pull your covers over you, when it’s the end of the day and you’re in your safe place, you can calm down,” said McQ Olsen, associate director of marketing at Taco Bell Arena. “The weighted lap pad is a lot like getting under your blankets at night because the comfort of that pressure of your blankets on top of you helps you desensitize.”

To check out the bags, guests can visit one of the seven guest services stations in the arena and exchange their driver’s license until they return the bag at the end of the event.

Olsen hopes that by implementing the sensory bags and staff training, the arena will be more accessible to guests. Sensory needs include autism, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dementia and others; by making the arena more welcoming for guests with these types of needs, they can make the event experience accessible for all.

“A big part of our mission is to serve all sorts of individuals and all sorts of guests, regardless of ability or disability,” Olsen said. “ … A lot of those events are very family-centric, and sometimes there are folks who might not be able to attend those events as a whole family because of a sensory issue. We hope that this will help in making those events accessible for the whole family.”

The move towards sensory inclusion comes after Taco Bell Arena’s other strides towards becoming a more inclusive venue. The arena now has all-user restrooms on the ground level, caption boards where spoken word is translated into text on a reader board, assisted listening devices and platforms for those with physical disabilities. According to Micki Courtney, Taco Bell Arena’s assistant general manager, these steps have been taken to create a more welcoming environment for all guests.

“We just see this as one more tool that supports our mission that we are a venue that is open, accessible and welcoming to any and all guests,” Courtney said. “If we have the privilege of having a patron in our building, we want them to know they are as welcomed and serviced as any other guest who comes through our doors.”