It is not often realized just how many people (both students and mentors) with learning disabilities are active members of the FRC community. I feel much more useful, valued, and welcome in FIRST than I have ever felt in school. I appreciate the efforts by FIRST HQ to incorporate “quiet rooms” at events. Though there may be a directive from HQ to attempt to have these spaces available, the two events I have been to this year thus far have not met my needs as someone with sensory issues. At one regional, the room was simply not there, and the other, the “room” was simply a sign that said “Quiet Room” with a couple chairs that was directly next to the machine shop and around 20-25 feet from the pits. Frankly, I found the latter experience rather insulting, like the event was simply trying to “check a box” without actually accommodating for the needs of people who really need the space. I have mentioned my concerns on this in the respective experience surveys for each event.
I am nowhere near qualified to speak on organizing events, but I would very very much appreciate the gesture of opening a conference room, side room, or hallway for those who need it.
Have any other members of the FIRST community experienced this? Or is it an isolated issue.
The Pine Tree District had a unique setup for scouting where there was an auditorium with the webcast that could be used to scout from. This was strange, but ultimately not a bad setup, as it meant our devices were able to be plugged in and the chairs were much more comfortable than your normal bleachers.
However, this room was apparently doubling as the Quiet Room? Which frankly made no sense. Try getting a big group of high schoolers to sit quietly for hours while scouting.
It seemed to me either the quiet room aspect was an afterthought or the “use this area for scouting” was an afterthought. Either way it was not a real quiet room.
I think every single student who was with us for 2019 has asked me if there would be a quiet room at our events, or asked me where the quiet room was this weekend at the Seven Rivers Regional. It was really sad to not be able to point them to one, since as far as I could tell in the event materials provided there wasn’t one, and I didn’t personally have any time to look around for one. They are so clearly a benefit to the student event experience. More events should have genuine quiet rooms.
As someone with sensory issues myself, I have only been to one event (besides champs) to directly offer any sort of quiet room. And the quiet room was right next to the field with a thin divider next to the wall way.
That being said, I have to agree with @Jon_Stratis. In my experience, pit admin, VC’s and regional directors are more than happy to help you find the quiet room if offered or will help you find a suitable space for the time being. When I was a student, I was overstimulated in the pits and next to the field and the VC saw me and let me sit in the volunteer area to calm down. I wouldn’t have spect them to offer that, but odds are they will try to help if there is no quiet room offered.
I know New England District has quiet rooms – there are 2 totes full of quiet stuff that come with the Field PODS. A mentor from my team took care of the room at our two events. The rooms were classrooms in hallways overlooking the gymnasiums. The first time I saw the totes I thought “Huh – better tell Cathy about these.”
As someone with a sensory processing disorder quiet rooms are a godsend, even if I rarely have time to actually use them. Usually adrenaline was enough to keep me perked up as a student, but I’ve found as a mentor if I don’t keep myself busy that they become a much greater need. Champs in both 2017 and 2019 were also very overstimulating. It’s something that New England takes fairly seriously which I’m super grateful for. I believe 125 was the one who really pushed for them or at least, their events were the first ones where they were really made aware to me, so shoutout to them and anyone else whose been working hard on making them accessible. Honestly it was Covid that taught me just how necessary they are. Going from barely seeing anyone to hundreds of screaming teenagers was a bit of a shock. Still wouldn’t trade it from anything, though I really want to take @marshall up on his offer for an off-season with some nice, quiet classical music.
I was at the UNC Pembroke event this weekend and they had a quiet room. It was just an empty classroom with a volunteer overseeing it. I talked to someone who volunteered to supervise it and said that it was truly quiet and a good place. I don’t know if this has been other peoples experience but this seemed to work.
I don’t know what’s in the totes. Guess you’ll have to come and see. We’ll have both Fields for NE District Champs, so twice the quiet room fun.
@BriFRC we do get smooth jazz before and after hours which I like, though one evening they left something caterwauling (Brittany? I don’t know). I wouldn’t mind some classical music during the day.
Francis’s music playlist slaps. I’m sure others have good music too. Though the music this year during the day has been mostly on point in NE, even if it could be a bit quieter (my throat hurts from yelling through my mask all the time. (Definitely not Covid)). I’ve been actually surprised by the lack of bad dance music this year, and while my nostalgia is sad, my ears are happy.
The quiet rooms helped my team this year so, so much. I have several students with anxiety issues and the noise and stress of the competition really affects them. Heck, I’m a very calm adult without anxiety or sensory issues and I end up shaking by the end of 2.5 days at a comp. My ears are still ringing. Just back from the NE Pease ANG event this weekend, and the quiet room there helped my kids tremendously. It was nicely separated, far from the field and pits, and stocked with books, games, and places to sit that helped them relax and see that it’s ok to look after your state of mind. Everyone needs to be able to just chill for a bit here and there to take a break and dial down the pressure. Having a dedicated place to point to that’s not just an empty room or a room doubled up with some other function, really helps show that it’s ok to not be ok and to need to decompress a little. I consider quiet rooms an indispensable asset at this point if we’re serious about our students’ mental health.
Are the quiet rooms at champs usually adequate? Are they conveniently located? It’s my first time going to champs this year due to COVID, and this is something I’d like to pass along to my fellow autistic teammates.
I was the volunteer for the NE District Pease ANG last Friday in the quiet room from 10-4. If I hadn’t had other commitments, I would have stayed longer. I loved being a volunteer there and would happily work to help the quiet room again. Just have to figure out the schedule!
In that quiet room, there were three signs and one of them explicitly said no scouting.
We had puzzles, drawing / coloring supplies, a chess set which was used by quite a few students, some kind of balance boards (I need to learn more about these), one unicorn pillow, a weighted blanket, yoga mats and books. We also had some pretty comfy chairs which were easily moved around. I’m pretty sure that I’ve forgotten a couple things too.
I went around to some of the pits and let students know that it was available. One of the Chairman’s judges also said that they would let students know about it also.
It’s a tremendous resource for everyone. Realistically, as mentors and volunteers we want everyone to have the best experience that we can deliver. This is just as important for people as other resources that we have. Someone might not use it but if their team functions better because their students are more prepared / ready for the the next part of the event, that’s a win for everyone.
This is a really great thread for me and 125 to read. The journey to Quiet Rooms started in 2017 with 2 of our students. Throughout 2018 and 2019 we worked tirelessly with tremendous help from our Compass Alliance friends and others to demonstrate the benefits of these rooms.
Finally in 2020 official guidance and volunteer roles were created for Quiet Rooms to be available at every FRC event (including both Championships). Obviously we didn’t get to see that play out over the entire 2020 season, but its amazing to read the stories now that we are getting a chance to see them in action on a broad scale.
Huge thanks to everyone and anyone that has helped or continues to help provide these for events. I think the stories above do all the talking!
Please know you made a very positive impact on my students’ experience, several of them have brought up how much they liked being able to get away there.
While I don’t have sensory issues myself, I noticed that the quiet space at LAR was really great to hang out in. The event was set up such that the field and pits were in the school gym, and the practice field was 300 feet away in the ground floor of the school building. The quiet space was set up in the school lunch benches outside. Overall, a very nice place to hang out and destress after frustrating practice field time. We could keep up on the action since there was a TV streaming the field cam inside near the practice field.
FWIW my experience with PNW district quiet rooms (at Glacier Peak, Auburn Mountainview, and Sammamish) has always had a quiet room. It was just a classroom with some dim lighting and a volunteer, and was great to try to work or rest when we had a long break between matches. Sometimes it was hard to find but there is some signage and pit admin or the hosting team helped find them.
Seven Rivers did have a designated quiet room. It was pointed out to volunteers at our meeting Wednesday night. Not sure why it wasn’t communicated to teams effectively enough.