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Dollywood opens autism calming room

The calming room provides a quiet, relaxing environment for guests who may need some time to get away from the excitement of Dollywood.

Dollywood is full of fun and excitement for visitors--- with dazzling rides, excited crowds, and lots of music and laughter.

While most people enjoy that hustle and bustle, it's not ideal for everyone, especially for people with autism, who can be overwhelmed with so much going on.

So now, there's a place just for those people and their families to get away from the sensory overload.

Dollywood opened a first of its kind autism calming room this week. It provides a quiet, relaxing environment for guests who may need some time to get away from the excitement. The room features a number of sensory items designed to calm guests with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

An official with the park's ride accessibility center says she saw an increase in families who could use a place like this.

"I just felt like Dollywood needed to do something, so I did some research and discovered that if they had a place to go that's quiet, that's away from people for just a brief time, that they could continue to have a great day with us at Dollywood," said Judy Toth with the ride accessability center.

The room is located is located on the front side of the DreamSong theatre.

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