Reading have confirmed that they will look into providing 'sensory items' after exhausting the possibilities for a sensory room.
A sensory room is a place for autistic children who would otherwise struggle to cope in the noisy environment of a football stadium to be able to still watch and enjoy the match.
Many clubs across the country have them in place, with Watford's winning awards.
Raised at a recent operations meeting between the club and the Supporters Trust at Reading [STAR], the club had looked at turning a box into a sensory room, but said "they have now exhausted options of providing a box as it would not be possible to do this properly but are open to other ideas on how to provide solutions to improve the environment for fans that may have autism or other reasonable adjustments required."
Villa’s mascot today, Riley Regan attends the club’s disability programme and wore ear defenders to protect him from the noise of the crowd; Danny Ings joined him in wearing them pre-kick off.
— HLTCO (@HLTCO) October 23, 2022
Superb. pic.twitter.com/VdAiu4u5Tb
Keen to find an alternative, STAR brought up the possibility of sensory kits, which would include objects such as ear defenders and fidget items.
Potentially encouraging these fans to view from the Eamonn Dolan Stand was also brought up.
Summing up, the notes from the meeting said: "Reading FC were amenable and through the Community Trust will consider options to make sensory items available for fans that may require them in the absence of a sensory viewing area."
This topic was very visible in recent Premier League action, with Aston Villa star Danny Ings wearing ear defenders when walking out of the tunnel with his mascot Riley Regan.
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