Cassie joely

As a parent of a child on the autism

As a parent of a child on the autism spectrum, I was quite let down by Zig Zag when we came a few months ago. The understanding around children with additional needs is clearly lacking. As soon as we arrived, my son (9 years old pre-verbal) displayed his excitement by jumping up and down on the spot and tapping on a photo of the play area (he communicates using pictures) at reception, he was immediately shouted at by the member of staff at reception which scared him. When I explained that he does not understand and he was not "being naughty" and that he is on the autism spectrum using the photo to communicate his excitement, I was told "He doesn't look autistic and you should be holding his arms down then." and very patronizingly told me that I must not leave him on his own (which of course would never be the case). This is a fundamental lack of understanding and inclusion for children with additional needs which is a shame as this sort of play area is the perfect space to fulfill their sensory needs. A second member of staff then saw this and made an effort to improve the situation and give my son some extra tokens for the car driving game which he loved - he is the reason this review went from a 1 star to 3 stars. It is hard enough for families with special educational needs to go on outings and this situation just highlighted why.

Date of experience: October 10, 2024