On the magical evening of April 27, 2024, 24 HCP and Sensory Grooves opened the doors of Wonderland Performing Arts in true red-carpet fashion celebrating our sensory and neurodivergent 8th-12th graders in and around the Acadiana area.
The night began as our Sensory Grooves staff placed a numbered VIP bracelet for each participant to adorn for the evening with a matching number tag given to the caregiver. This ensured that safety was the priority at check-in and check-out. After check-in, the grooviest selfie-station could not be missed. The sparkles and decor made each capture (texted/emailed) a build up to the exciting celebration ahead. Smiles of anticipation grew as each promenaded to the event room passing our professional and fun-loving security officer (Hub Enterprises). A representative from the silent disco headset company, Dohm Collective, eagerly awaited each participant with individualized headsets and instructions to begin grooving into the night. With the beats pumping, prom night officially began!
A groovy volunteer (supporter Owner/Speech Therapist of Let’s Talk, Rhea Dugas) shared her sensory knowledge and kindness with a table filled with radical sensory items to ensure each a personalized sensory experience.
Senses were immediately captured as the smell of fresh popcorn (Lafayette Rental Company) and hot pizza (Little Caesars of Broussard) filled the air. The vision of disco balloon towers encompassed the dance floor and Sensory Groove: Silent Disco Prom projected backdrop (supporters Montz Designs and BWPR) completed the decor.
Dohm Collective’s disc jockeys and Sensory Grooves own DJ Tory Trahan kicked the beats of three different music genres. The dance floor was graced with rhythmic expression by attendees dressed in expressive formal wear grooving their personalized night away. As the smiles grew so did the need for a cold drink. The thirsts were quenched with choice of water, lemonade, sweet tea (supporter Canes #53 – The Hook, Galen Istre), and Pepsi products (Acadiana Bottling). As breaks from dancing were needed, participants visited (supporter and groovy volunteer, Mrs. Marvette Johnson) Lynn’s Captures as she festively captured the evening with a free professional photograph.
No prom would be complete without a swag bag (supporter Cane’s – The Hook, Galen Istre) personally filled each swag bag with Cane’s merchandise and gift cards. Sensory Groove’s own Kathy Ladner extended swag stickers of Live A Great Story philosophy to our grooving participants; encouraging each to become the hero of their own story.
Sensory Grooves: Silent Disco Prom was promoted through social media, community calendars, direct emails to local school administration, doctors, therapists, and flyers (Lowry’s Printing) placed at locally owned stores; new friendships were forged as sixty groovers came from as far south as Houma and the surrounding Acadiana area. This majestic evening, one that most did not ever think they would be able to participate in, was graciously funded by the backers of 24 Hour Citizen Project for 100 participants. Our first year was a true learning experience. Sensory Grooves is extremely blessed and thankful to 24 HCP and backers for the opportunity to create and host such an evening. With that said, we have learned many groovy lessons as a team. We encountered bumps and obstacles with our team not truly grasping the number of hours dedicated to such a project. And with that we lost team members which handed down responsibilities onto others; but we made it work with dedication to the members of the community we created this evening for. Budget was another obstacle as our team knew what our participants needed and deserved. Without in-kind donations from our community supporters, we would have not been able to accomplish all that we did for the grooviest evening. April 27, 2024, was a brilliantly successful evening dedicated to the sensory and neurodivergent community. Sensory Grooves: Silent Disco Prom looks forward to hosting this spectacular event annually.
Since you last heard from us in December, Team Sensory Grooves has been “strutting our stuff” in preparation for the grooviest night coming in Acadiana – Sensory Grooves: Silent Disco Prom! We look forward to celebrating our sensory and neurodivergent 14 to 18 year olds (8-12th grade) community on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Wonderland Performing Arts. Team Sensory Grooves guarantees a night to feel accepted, understood, and celebrated.
As this is your child’s night to shine and showcase the star they are, we are encouraging comfortable formal attire. They will groove to the beats in their individualized headphones through Dohm Collective out of New Orleans. Each attendee will be in control of the volume, ensuring they can feel their best while dancing or simply sitting back and relaxing to their choice of music!
In January, our friends at BWPR and Montz Design completed the designs, event information, and Eventbrite page where a parent or guardian can request a ticket to the prom. This link will go live soon, so stay tuned and visit educationdestination.org for additional details! We are eager to begin sharing in the excitement on social media and around Acadiana in the upcoming weeks. If you spot a post or flyer, please share it or take a picture, then blast this wonderful evening to your community. We want to make sure everyone who can attend will be there, grooving to their personalized beats.
One of our primary goals is for our children to feel celebrated by experiencing a night dedicated to those within a unique and misunderstood community. It is an evening for them to feel like royalty and shine in a friendly and safe environment. We are diligently working to find party favors and volunteers who understand the needs of those attending. Additionally, we are looking at the food we serve that evening to meet any possible dietary restrictions. And if you have ever danced so much you need to quench your thirst, then you know the importance of having light refreshments! Whether through individualized music, party favors, drinks, or snacks, we will have what is needed to cater to everyone’s needs! But that is just the start!
Upon entering, an immediate photo opportunity with a professional photographer from Lynn’s Captures Photography will make each child feel like they are on the red carpet!
And parents or guardians, we are planning for you, too! If you want to take this opportunity to have a few hours to yourself while your child is grooving, that is an option. We will also have a suite on-site dedicated to you near the prom.
Upcoming for Team Sensory Grooves is to finalize all invoices and send payments, create decorations to make the venue as magical as possible, and promote the event so we can get tickets filled and aid in growing your child’s social circle!
We are ecstatic as we continue progressing into the final stages of Sensory Grooves: Silent Disco Prom! This night will surely be an evening to celebrate the stars of our community in a safe, friendly, and accepted environment.
Thank you are two of the most simplistic words that are written in this moment filled with such sincere gratitude. Team Sensory Grooves is beyond grateful to you for opening doors and entrusting us to showcase the need for acceptance and inclusion in the Autism Spectrum Disorder and Special Education Needs community; specifically for participants 14-18 years of age. Through the generosity and dedication from our community, the Backer Team, 24 Hour Citizen Project team and Board of Directors, and all those who voted and shared the message of Team Sensory Grooves to be funded for Acadiana’s first sensory-friendly environment, silent disco prom. We thank you for giving us the opportunity to dedicate and to celebrate an evening specifically to those with autism and other sensory challenges.
Team Sensory Grooves is a team dedicated to making the dream of students from Education Destination (a specialty school in Lafayette for students with autism and various learning disabilities) that wanted to be able to attend a prom that is designed specifically for them and their peers in the special needs community of Acadiana. A special night, a special PROM, that is specifically their own. A night, a place, that even for just a few hours they do not have to mask or perform to the social norms of society. Not have to worry of being judged or taunted by those that do not understand who they truly are and the daily challenges they will forever face.
Team Sensory Grooves is composed of educators, parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, an Education Destination alumnus member from the Class of 2022, and other community leaders that have a passion to foster a community of acceptance and inclusion beginning with creating Sensory Grooves: Silent Disco Prom. A night dedicated to the stars of a unique and misunderstood community to become royalty and shine in a friendly and safe environment.
This amazing journey began on the night of November 11, 2023 during the 24 Hour Citizen Project. The Backers Team believed, supported, and funded the dream of Sensory Grooves: Silent Disco Prom. They heard the pitch and chose to entrust us to fulfill the need to make a difference in the lives of an overlooked community. The Backers Team chose Team Sensory Grooves to provide an inclusive prom to provide a safe and friendly environment for our autism and special education needs community to feel accepted, understood, and celebrated.
I am here to share that becoming funded brought about a lot of responsibilities and takes a dedicated team to make a night like Sensory Grooves happen. We are making positive steps forward to meet our goal. We knew that this prom had to happen in April of 2024 as this is Autism Acceptance month in addition to the kick- off of prom season. With this date in mind we also knew that our timeline would be tight. Entering into December we are already feeling the squeeze and it just spurs the excitement of this project that much more. We set out to immediately find a venue that would be open to such a short time frame in addition to ensuring it is an inclusive venue for our participants. After only making a few phone calls we found that there are plenty of event venues that are in our Acadiana area although not many were receptive to our budget and also the short time frame. Believing in the power of yet, we persisted and continued to call and found the perfect venue to host the inaugural evening; Wonderland Performing Arts in Lafayette. We spoke to Mrs. Allison who quickly became part of Team Sensory Grooves as she was so excited to offer the theater as the canvas to create Sensory Grooves: Silent Disco Prom where royalty will shine on April 27, 2024.
Once we had the venue and date booked it was on to search for a company to provide the wireless headphones that make a silent disco. Thanks to one of the experts that assisted us during the 24 Hour Citizen Project, DJ Digital of 107.9, we were able to locate a local business Dohm Collective, to customize the experience as unique as each of our participants.
In the upcoming two months our goal is to finalize the brand/logo to begin promotions. We are also in the process of creating short clips to post through social media of why such a need as Sensory Grooves Prom is important directly from those who dreamt it.
We know we have a lot to do in a very short amount of time. However, our team is dedicated and passionate in making this evening magical. We want and know that this is the first year but we are eager to make this an annual event. We look forward to this becoming the conversation for those 14-18 year olds to start planning at the start of the school year. Opening up a night to look forward to; to connect with old friends and make new friends. A night to share their experiences with others in our Acadiana community. Conversations being had with hopes to open minds that might have once been closed to why there is such a huge need to create environments for events specifically tailored to a unique and misunderstood community.
One day we would love to extend past just one night of prom. Our vision is to create other Sensory Grooves events specifically designed in creating a safe and friendly environment promoting acceptance and inclusiveness for the autism and special education needs community.
