“About seven or eight years ago, we had a chef in our Chicago location who reached out and said, ‘I’m raising a son with special needs and I’d really love the kitchen to be a part of this outreach.’ Another lightbulb moment. The movies are shown with the lights up, the sound down and the children are free to move around and talk and dance in the aisles, if the mood strikes.Īs SMG’s reputation for positive community outreach grew, more opportunities presented themselves.

Today, the sensory-friendly screenings are in 32 theaters in ten states. One of the most important aspects of the program is that screenings are offered free to children with special needs and their siblings, which means everyone can afford to come together….as a family. But, as the program grew, Lynne would conduct an outreach trip with each new location or new city in which SMG found a non-profit partner serving special needs families to help get the word out and build awareness. It started off small, with a few showings here and there. We could do something important to help all families raising special needs children.”Īnd, from that kernel of a conversation, the Special Needs Screenings program was born.

The GM said he hadn’t been to a movie with his family because he and his wife were concerned that their children would disturb others. “We had a GM who was raising two children with special needs and our Founder/CEO, Brian Schultz, got into a conversation with him and asked the last movie he went to see with his family. She was integral in helping to establish their legacy Special Needs Screenings that began in 2003. Lynne McQuaker has been with Studio Movie Grill creating and executing their community outreach programs for over 15 years. Read on to learn how they’re enriching the lives of millions of families.

Not only do they have these sensory-friendly screenings, they have so many other amazing outreach programs that they had to be a Profiles of C.A.R.E. Years ago, we discovered that Studio Movie Grill (“SMG”) offers Special Needs Screenings and we were ecstatic. Catherine loves going to the movies and we love watching them together as a family.

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