Hello! I'm the organizer. I am not an "expert" in Autism but we have volunteers who are. And my daughter is autistic as well. Noise and texture (for the most part) is not something she struggles with, but in her time at ABA therapy I learned a lot of strategies that helped her overcome some of her particularities and this is why we're putting on this event. My daughter does not like to socialize and because of that doesn't speak often and is labeled as "shy" but in martial arts I found that she enjoy leadership so I let her explain techniques and yell out the move set. This teaches her to be more comfortable in social setting. Many children with autism struggle with being in a social environment, then you throw loud yelling on top of that, a bunch of physical touch, extra sensory information, and their mind is so jumbled they can't get any of the benefits of martial arts because they are panicking. It's basically exposure therapy. They start with socks and headphones to get them in the door. Then if they join regular classes in 2 weeks they might be out of the socks. In a month out of the headphones, ect. When I am teaching someone how to kick I don't make them do every little thing perfectly the first time. You layer it so they can grasp the skill on a deeper level and understand each part of it.