Co-founders of EarlyVention, Melissa and Elizabeth Ames, are teaming up with the Executive director of the Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn, Adam Woodworth, to provide sensory support bags for our visitors with sensory processing disorder (SPD). Melissa and Elizabeth have extensive background experience involving special needs children and adults. They started EarlyVention to help make life easier for those who struggle with disabilities by creating products for enjoyment and stimulation.

Each bag includes a book to prepare the child for his/her visit to the museum, along with lots of visual support to help children better communicate their needs and wants while enjoying the exhibits. Other tools, like noise-canceling headphones and fun fidget toys are also included to help children adjust to their surroundings and calm the senses. Melissa cites that and more businesses are recognizing the need to accommodate those with autism, and we're thrilled to help the museum, a non-profit organization, join this movement. It is so needed!

Besides the sensory items, the bag also includes different guides to help make your museum experience even more joyful. These guides consist of an informational booklet, the sensory bag contents, the “My Guide” and the picture support cards which are attached to the side of the bag. You can read the “My Guide” social story before or while you enjoy the exhibits to prepare your child for the museum’s different sensory experiences.

​At the Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn, we are continuously putting forth the effort to make everyone’s experience at our museum enjoyable.

"As a parent of a child with a disability, I know how stressful outings can be," says Adam Woodworth, the Museum's Executive Director. "This partnership with Earlyvention will hopefully take some of that stress out of your visit, utilizing the various items in the Sensory Bags.  And, as you use the bag, if you have ideas for other items we might want to include, let us know. We'd love the input."

​CEO of Earlyvention Elizabeth Ames stated, "Last year, the museum posthumously recognized our mom, Jennifer Ames, for her volunteer work to help adapt exhibits for young children with special needs. We are honored to continue her legacy and help the museum become an even more inclusive environment. After months of designing the Sensory Support Bags, we are ecstatic to see them put to good use by children sensitive to environmental stimuli, especially those with autism and sensory processing disorder."

The Museum has a few sensory bags at the front desk that you can check out. There is no charge to check out the bag. Simply give your photo ID to the front desk to check one out during your visit.

Each year, we close the children's museum to the public for one week. This year we will be closed on September 11-18. However, our administrative offices and phone lines are still open for questions, bookings, and memberships. Here's a brief description explaining why we do this.
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The annual maintenance week starts with a thorough and deep cleaning of everything, exhibit-by-exhibit. This is followed up by touch-up painting and more extensive painting that might need done. Then there is exhibit maintenance, things like greasing motors, checking moving components and replacing worn parts are always on the list. This is the time where we can refinish the floors by the water and sand table, the stairs and the art room. The carpets get deep cleaned throughout the year and this is one of those times (usually within the last day or two of the annual maintenance week).

On that one day a week we are normally closed (Monday), we’ll do touch-up painting, cleaning, and exhibit repair work then, too. Being closed for just over a full week annually allows us to tackle some of those multi-day projects (like refinishing the floors and disassembling exhibits) that we can’t do during the year.

We do all this, so the children's museum is ready for you to enjoy. We hope you'll come visit soon, and let us know throughout the year when exhibits need our special attention.

​Thank you, from all of us at the Children's Museum in Oak Lawn!