New YEG sensory room aims to make traveling more calming for neurodivergent people

The Edmonton International Airport (YEG) is hoping to make flying a little less stressful for neurodivergent travellers. Nicole Weisberg explains.

The Edmonton International Airport is hoping to make travelling less daunting for neurodivergent travellers with a new sensory room.

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The dedicated space is designed to support travellers with autism, anxiety and sensory sensitivities. The airport says it’s been a long time coming.

“We’ve heard really loud and clear that the airport is a tough place for some people. It’s very loud. It can be very chaotic. We can have announcements that are happening at all times, and it’s not comfortable,” said Erin Isfeld, manager of corporate communications at the Edmonton International Airport (YEG).

“We wanted to create a space that was something that could be really calming and really reassuring for all of our passengers, and it’s a nice little hideaway that they can kind of tuck into before their flight.”

The space features interactive sensory zones, tactile panels, a five-foot-wide sensory pad, colour-changing lit benches and rows of aircraft seating to get passengers used to an airplane setting.

The sensory room is located post-security in the Domestic-International Departures Lounge across from Gate 49.

Air Canada’s Autism Aviators program invites families with neurodivergent children to rehearse a preflight process to make it familiar and easier. WestJet and Air Canada have seats inside the sensory room for people to sit in them and get used to the new setting.

Autism Edmonton executive director Melinda Noyes says the airport reached out to them for the partnership and listened to their recommendations.

“They really made it their own and they made it really full of imagination. It’s calm space. It’s a sensory input space. It has a lot of different benefits for different people who really have sensory processing issues of any kind,” Noyes said.

Noyes says people with neurodiverse issues want to be able to touch things when they’re having a difficult time, such as weighted blankets, tactile toys and some items that can help regulate emotions.

The sensory room has benefits beyond helping people feel calm before a flight. Noyes says it will attract people to the city.

“There is somewhere to go if you’ve had a flight, if you’ve had a child or a loved one (who needs) a little bit of space. It attracts people both ways,” Noyes said.

The Toronto Pearson International Airport also has a sensory room.

With files from CTV Edmonton’s Nicole Weisberg