Vermont Business Magazine ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain has announced that it has become the first location in Vermont to achieve the KultureCity certification. KultureCity is a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting inclusivity and accessibility for individuals with sensory needs.
KultureCity’s flagship initiative, the Sensory Inclusive program, has been widely embraced by venues, stadiums, and cultural institutions across the nation and around the world. This groundbreaking program provides training and resources to staff, enabling them to better accommodate individuals with sensory sensitivities. As a result, countless families and individuals can now experience and enjoy live events, entertainment, and public spaces with greater comfort and ease.
The certification process entailed ECHO’s staff being trained by leading medical and neurodivergent professionals to recognize guests with sensory needs and how to handle a sensory overload situation. Sensory bags, equipped with noise-canceling headphones (provided by Puro Sound Labs), fidget tools, and verbal cue cards will also be available to guests at ECHO who may feel overwhelmed by the environment. With its new certification, ECHO is now better prepared to assist guests with sensory sensitivities in having the most comfortable and accommodating experience possible when visiting the museum.
The KultureCity® certification enhances the sensory accommodations already in place at the museum. For the last 6 years, ECHO has hosted free monthly Sensory-Friendly Sunday hours for families with sensory processing differences. From 9-10 am, ECHO closes to the general public, adjusts lighting and sound, and allows visitors to enjoy the museum in a calm environment. Learn more at https://www.echovermont.org/accommodations/. ECHO also has had a longstanding relationship with Kayla’s Directory, a local organization working to enrich the lives of Vermont’s children with disabilities through greater community involvement and increased access to developmental services and recreational activities.
ECHO is now featured on the free KultureCity® App. On the app, families can view available sensory features and where they can access them, as well as a Social Story which helps guests know what to expect from a visit to ECHO.
"Empowering communities through inclusion and innovation, ECHO is aligned with the same visionary spirit as KultureCity® and is championing a world where every individual, regardless of ability, is not just accepted but celebrated for their unique contributions to the tapestry of humanity!” Uma Srivastava, Executive Director, KultureCity®.
About ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain
ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain is Vermont’s science and nature museum on the Burlington waterfront. The Museum’s mission is to inspire and engage families in the joy of scientific discovery, wonder of nature, and care of Lake Champlain. Visitors can discover over 100 interactive family experiences, 70 live species, seasonal changing exhibits, and The Northfield Savings Bank 3D Theater. ECHO aims to make the world accessible to developing minds in a way that children learn best, through hands-on science play, in Champ Lane, an early childhood exhibit. In Awesome Forces and Engineer It exhibits, visitors of all ages tackle daily engineering challenges at our tinkering bench as well as delight in discovering the forces that have shaped the Lake Champlain Basin. ECHO encourages visitors to view the natural environment as part of their neighborhood and to explore, learn about, and consider opportunities for stewardship. 2024 marks ECHO’s 30 years of teaching more than 3 million visitors about the role of science in our culture and lives. To learn more about ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, visit: https://www.echovermont.org/
About KultureCity®
KultureCity®, established in 2014, is a dynamic non-profit organization at the forefront of the inclusivity movement that continues to make waves in creating a more accessible and accepting world for individuals with sensory needs and invisible disabilities (found in 1 in 4 of us). In a short 10 years, a few highlights of KultureCity’s impact include making over 1,800 venues sensory-inclusive certified, handing out almost a million sensory bags to individuals in need, making over 150 live events sensory-inclusive, and saving 48 lives through the KultureCity® First Responder Training. KultureCity’s commitment to inclusivity extends beyond physical spaces. The organization actively collaborates with influential figures, businesses, and communities to promote awareness and understanding of invisible disabilities. KultureCity® partners with event industry leaders like the NFL, NBA, MLB, and FIFA to make their flagship events sensory-inclusive. With ongoing initiatives, partnerships, and a passionate community of supporters, KultureCity® is set to leave an enduring impact on the landscape of inclusivity.
Source: Burlington, VT– ECHO. 11.25.2024.