Football match is just the ticket

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Autistic students from LVS Hassocks used a Championship football match as an opportunity to learn to cope with noisy crowds.

The LVS Hassocks pupils were among the 25,231 crowd at Brighton and Hove Albion vs Wolverhampton Wanderers on October 18.

With crowded spaces notoriously difficult for children with autism to manage due to the range of stimuli they have to deal with, the Amex was an ideal place to immerse themselves in a busy atmosphere and practice key skills.

As many people on the autism spectrum have difficulty processing everyday sensory information such as noise and light and with sensory overload potentially causing stress and anxiety, preparation for the game was as much a team effort for LVS Hassocks as it was for Brighton.

Teachers and speech and language therapy staff combined to make students aware of what they would face, and developed calming mechanisms with them to ensure that should they find the experience overwhelming they could help themselves to cope with the situation.